2009
heads roll and heads roll
maura @ 11:26 pm
My birthday was last week. It was a good day: I went to Library Camp and ate chocolate cupcakes w/vanilla buttercream frosting, yum. (not at the same time, though.) I am also old finally enough now. “Old enough for what?” you may ask. And I will answer: “everything.”
Among the lovely wishes + gifts, I got the latest release by 50 Foot Wave: “Power + Light.” 50 Foot Wave is Kristin Hersh (of Throwing Muses fame)’s other band, and they are loud + rocking. Lately this old lady has been all about the rock music, and I am happy to report that this scratches my rock itch. (Which sounds kind of yucky, actually.)
But that’s not what I want to blag about. What I really want to do is give big ups to Kristin & Co. because they have escaped the shackles of the recording industry and are kicking it open access-style. They founded Cash Music as an alternative means of music distribution. They released this new record on beautiful vinyl (choice of 4 colors! I picked cyan), which you can buy. And they also made the mp3 of the whole dang record available to download for free. Which kicks ass for me because now I don’t have to sit there making sure the cats don’t mess w/things while the USB turntable rips the vinyl to mp3. And of course the whole dang thing is Creative Commons licensed, so others can mix + mash these tracks as the spirit moves them.
I’ve been interested in open access/source kinds of things for a while, I guess, but I’ve gotten more and more passionate about those issues since I became a librarian (don’t get me started on the absurdities of scholarly journal publishing). Of course music/content/art producers need to get paid for the good work they do, but so many of them are held hostage by the recording/publishing industry. These models are broken. I’m not sure what the answer is — I don’t think we’ll know that for a while yet — but I’m 100% convinced that things like Cash Music are a step in the right direction.
4 comments on “heads roll and heads roll”
I know, she is amazing. I keep waiting to grow out of her music but I never ever do.
SO glad your rock itch cleared up! I was going to send you some Gold Bond (or possibly Blue Star*) with the b-day package (which I am constantly adding to, making it ever-later).
*My brother and I used to crack up at the tv ad for Blue Star, “Jock itch! Psoriasis! Ringworm!”
No worries, I totally owe you thanks for the bday email! (All email is being caught up on this weekend, I swear.) Plus, now that I’m an old lady I’m much more patient. :)
I want to be Kristin Hersh when I grow up, so I guess I’m not quite old enough for everything yet. I love that she calls her greatest $$ sponsors Strange Angels.