What is S.O.P.A ?

[Henry II]

SOPA and PIPA were based on false numbers:

http://www.itworld.com/security/242587/ ... er-existed
The loss in revenue is but a fraction of what was claimed.
So it's a good thing that SOPA and PIPA are going away. We need regulation based on facts,

What is far worse is the ACTA treaty that allows governments to go outside civil rights, outside the UN,
outside WTO and WIPO.

From Wikipedia:
In June 2010, a conference at the Washington College of Law with over 90 academics, practitioners
and public interest organizations from six continents concluded "that the terms of the publicly released
draft of ACTA threaten numerous public interests, including every concern specifically disclaimed by
negotiators." A group of 75+ law professors signed a letter to President Obama demanding that ACTA be halted and changed.

Nonetheless a few countries including USA has signed the treaty already.
This is really, really messed up. V for Vendetta seems more and more prophetic.

+1! [Emphasis added]. The irony is that it is the free and open internet, threatened by SOPA and PIPA, through which the public was made aware of the proposed laws (there was a virtual blackout of coverage in the MSM until after the major website blackouts), and through which Congress was made aware that the electorate was against it.

[DSOP]

What's even more noteworthy is that music sales in 2011 went UP by 8%, according
to the music industry itself:

http://musically.com/2012/01/23/ifpi-sa ... 8-in-2011/

How much of that went to artists as opposed to these new distribution outlets?

Do you know how much Spotify and other services pay per stream? Apple has way too much power too. If I want to sell a track for 9 cents, or $1.05, they won't let me. They control the pricing.

Having said that, I'm all for more opportunities to earn money from recording music. The easier and cheaper it is to get it, the more people will do it.

[Gaddabout]

Some people read Penthouse for the articles too.

Wait ... Penthouse has articles?!

[DSOP]

Wait ... Penthouse has articles?!

http://www.theonion.com/articles/pentho ... pen-t,820/

[Morgenthaler]

What's even more noteworthy is that music sales in 2011 went UP by 8%, according
to the music industry itself:

http://musically.com/2012/01/23/ifpi-sa ... 8-in-2011/

How much of that went to artists as opposed to these new distribution outlets?

Do you know how much Spotify and other services pay per stream? Apple has way too much power too. If I want to sell a track for 9 cents, or $1.05, they won't let me. They control the pricing.

Having said that, I'm all for more opportunities to earn money from recording music. The easier and cheaper it is to get it, the more people will do it.

I think we are on the same page. What we need is absolute transparency about where the money goes,
and how much artists are paid for each dollar of income per track/album/stream on all of the platforms (iTunes, Spotify, Rdio etc etc).
I just found this: http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/2 ... rn-online/
but for now I haven't got the time to go through it. I will at a later point, though.

[Josiah]

That link is silly. This discussion seems very academic because nobody has any personal experience. Do any of you actually make a living playing music? If so, what are the figures for your band/session work?

"What we need is absolute transparency about where the money goes,"

There is absolute transparency. For everyone involved! If you're not involved, you're just guessing at the numbers. Simple as that. I can guarantee you nobody in my band is signing jack squat without our lawyer reading through a contract. And the same goes for all my session work.


We make (my personal band) 150% profit on cd's. A 200% profit on stickers and roughly 60% on t-shirts. And often a percentage of ticket sales (if applicable).

While we have looked into online retailing, such as itunes - it would only be a additional extra bonus. If you think you will make money from these online companies, you're flat out mad. It's a bonus at best. itunes is like 30/70 on the dollar for sales to start. Which medium do think we'll concentrate on more? 30% profit or 150% profit.....

It is about the live connection. Having the hot merch girls. Playing a kickass show. Having very cool graphics, catchy logo's and eye candy. Building a fan base. Saturating the market with your music.

If you want to make money, with any product - be it music or a hamburger. You have to treat it like a business, have a plan, goals, accountants, etc

If you want to be a pop star, that has nothing to do with music. Musicians are just one component of that business model - a small one at that.


The problem seems to be musicians ignore the "business" part of the music business. And because of that just get crushed. It's a hell of a lot harder to run a successful business then it is to right a few catchy songs.
You need the balance and (often outside) expertise to successfully make money with any venture.


The facts are: Most musicians pay to play music. Even very successful musicians or artists fail on the business side causing substantial, if not total, loss.

Take the whole realm of marching for instance. From drums to brass to flags. All of them pay a LOT of money to be able to do that.

[matthughen]

"Luddite" has been a word that I have been throwing around a lot lately with all the discussion of SOPA/PIPA and copyright. Here is yet another example:
The MPAA is seems like a bunch of dumb ole' guys who dont understand technology:
"He says the MPAA "is [undergoing] a process of education, a process of getting a much, much greater presence in the online environment. This was a fight on a platform we're not at this point comfortable with, and we were going up against an opponent that controls that platform."
He is referring to Google who control the internet . . . facking morons. read the rest of the article. It has good links to other info as well.
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/201201 ... rnet.shtml

SOPA is not dead, it just smells funny. inevitably, it will make a comeback in some other form.

[circh bustom]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/ ... =sm_btn_su

I hope this link works. It is an article in the Washington Post with Neil Young. The article itself is interesting, but please read the last two paragraphs.

[Morgenthaler]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/neil-young-steve-jobs-listened-to-vinyl-because-of-higher-fidelity/2012/01/31/gIQAk9dZfQ_story.html?tid=sm_btn_su

I hope this link works. It is an article in the Washington Post with Neil Young. The article itself is interesting, but please read the last two paragraphs.

I was about 10 seconds away from posting this. Good read.

[matthughen]

Meet CISPA . . . the gov't swears it is nothing like SOPA.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-574136 ... u-of-sopa/

"CISPA's primary function is to remove legal barriers that might keep Internet companies from giving all your communication and information to the government. It allows "cyber entities" (such as Internet service providers, social networks like Facebook and cell phone companies like AT&T) to circumvent Internet privacy laws when they're pressured by Homeland Security to hand over or shut down -- well, almost anything of yours online that the government wants, no warrant needed."