When Pigs Fly: The Death of Oink, the Birth of Dissent Options

[boombaard]

perhaps an interesting/entertaining read: (not by my hand, found it yesterday)
http://www.demonbaby.com/blog/2007/10/when...k-birth-of.html

For quite a long time I've been intending to post some sort of commentary on the music industry - piracy, distribution, morality, those types of things. I've thought about it many times, but never gone through with it, because the issue is such a broad, messy one - such a difficult thing to address fairly and compactly. I knew it would result in a rambly, unfocused commentary, and my exact opinion has teetered back and forth quite a bit over the years anyway. But on Monday, when I woke up to the news that Oink, the world famous torrent site and mecca for music-lovers everywhere, had been shut down by international police and various anti-piracy groups, I knew it was finally time to try and organize my thoughts on this huge, sticky, important issue.

edit2: thanks for editing the title, kind (and anonymous) moderator

This post has been edited by boombaard: Oct 29 2007, 23:57

[Fandango]

Personally I like this idea of an ideal state-of-the-art music distribution:

Record companies (or contractors) have something that is similar or identical to private trackers just like OiNK. But you'll have to pay a minimal fee to get access to them, in exchange you get access to the entire catalog of the label in CD quality.

The system should make use of P2P technology, no it must make use of it. For instance just like in private trackers, uploaders are rewarded and leechers are punished.

With a top ratio, you get some benefits like, free merchandise and promo material, "dinner with the stars" or free concert tickets.

With a constant good ratio you get, your access fee paid back.

With an ok ratio, you get the normal stuff, access to the whole catalog, etc...

I don't know if it's wise to punish leechers as they still might simply go to "illegal" trackers instead. But it's not impossible to find a solition for all the fine tuning on a large scale network...

Anyway the point is, that certain P2P communities like OiNK are the thing. That's the technical standard of music distribution today. I'm strongely convinced it is. It's getting more popular each month. And the labels are just silly to not start their own trackers.

Would I join a tracker of a distributor for Sub Pop, Kill Rock Stars, Recommended Records, etc. music? Sure I would! In fact I'm sure that something exactly like this might pop up anytime.

Artists and people who whine about the loss of the "package" (i.e. that ugly plastic box with the ugly error-prone plastic disc in it) should get a life (or a PC) and grow up! When I have the choice between looking at >600dpi artwork on my 21" screen and looking at a tiny 12x12cm piece of halftone printed paper, I choose the digital image without pre-print processing, of course!

[skamp]

Artists and people who whine about the loss of the "package" (i.e. that ugly plastic box with the ugly error-prone plastic disc in it) should get a life (or a PC) and grow up! When I have the choice between looking at >600dpi artwork on my 21" screen and looking at a tiny 12x12cm piece of halftone printed paper, I choose the digital image without pre-print processing, of course!

(emphasis mine)
So... preferring the real thing, that you can browse through anywhere you want (on the couch, in your bed, in the subway), over sitting at a desk staring at a computer screen, is antisocial and immature? Is preferring books over PDFs antisocial and immature too? I wonder what gran'pa would have to say about that...

[Fandango]

So... preferring the real thing, that you can browse through anywhere you want (on the couch, in your bed, in the subway), over sitting at a desk staring at a computer screen, is antisocial and immature? Is preferring books over PDFs antisocial and immature too? I wonder what gran'pa would have to say about that...

First of all, don't use this cheap trick and slightly change the subject. I was referring to booklets and not books. Yes, I would rather read a booklet on my high quality LCD screen than reading it on my coach from a small piece of paper. I would not want to read entire books in front of a screen! While I agree in this matter (books) doesn't mean I also agree in a different matter (booklets).

And second of all... Huh? I don't understand this kind of argument less and less as time passes by! This is the year 2007 and there are DAPs with displays, WLAN almost everywhere, video and music servers for your home, laptops... etc. you're not tied to your desk when you want to look at artwork in its (original) digital form, in fact you're not tied to your desk when you want to consume any kind of digitial medium that is stored or played back by a computer, because computers are now everywhere, not just on your desk anymore. If you really want to you can also read the digital booklet while you're on a train using your DAP or on the toilet or everywhere else you could have taken a paper booklet with you. ePaper may still be impractical today, but I wouldn't count on it that it will stay that way, so that this will apply to real books, too, sooner or later.

Of course, it's a matter of taste. But it's getting less and less impractical, and you can't deny that. You can also not deny that the reading quality of pre-printing digital artwork seen on a decent screen is superior to a CD booklet.

And last but not least, to draw the attention back to my main statement: if the whole "official" music distribution has finally dumped the Audio CD, how else will you get your album artwork if not as digital files, be it PDF, JPG or some other format? Is having the artwork and liner notes in your hands as paper really that important in the end that you would rather buy a CD because of that? Not to me. Music comes before artwork, and I want to get the music directly on my PC and not via an antique plastic coaster. Better today than tomorrow. Get a decent printer and you'll have your hardcopy...

This post has been edited by Fandango: Nov 2 2007, 15:21

[skamp]

Yes, I would rather read a booklet on my high quality LCD screen than reading it on my coach from a small piece of paper. [...] This is the year 2007 and there are DAPs with displays

DAP displays are even smaller than CD booklets... like, what, 4 times smaller?

WLAN almost everywhere, video and music servers for your home, laptops...

I doubt video and music servers have integrated large screens. And I usually use a laptop while sitting at table, and don't get it out of my backpack in the subway.

you're not tied to your desk when you want to look at artwork in its (original) digital form [...] If you really want to you can also read the digital booklet while you're on a train using your DAP or on the toilet or everywhere else you could have taken a paper booklet with you.

Like I said, DAP displays are ridiculously small, because, well, they're supposed to be portable. Now I wouldn't mind watching a TV show on such displays, but I wouldn't read anything other than song titles on those things.

Of course, it's a matter of taste. But it's getting less and less impractical, and you can't deny that. You can also not deny that the reading quality of pre-printing digital artwork seen on a decent screen is superior to a CD booklet.

You can't deny some people prefer objects, some people have different eye sights, some people have, indeed, different tastes. Please don't kill the booklet just yet, mmm-kay?

And last but not least, to draw the attention back to my main statement: if the whole "official" music distribution has finally dumped the Audio CD, how else will you get your album artwork if not as digital files, be it PDF, JPG or some other format?

I sure hope it won't, and don't believe it will. Not everyone is a technonut, some people still prefer LPs if only because of the larger artwork (you can frame the damn thing, for crying out loud), etc... I doubt people will start burning books and recycling CDs anytime soon. Physical and virtual media will probably co-exist for a long while - and that's the way it should be: let people decide what they want to buy.

I reacted to your completely out of line comment about getting a life and growing up.

[SnTholiday]

let people decide what they want to buy.

People are going to do want they want to do, this thread is not going to change anyone's mind about IP,
copyright infringement, stealing, etc. So what's the sense arguing about it?

[Leto Atreides II]

So what's the sense arguing about it?

Welcome to the Internet!

This post has been edited by Leto Atreides II: Nov 4 2007, 06:45