Making Light :: In which culture moves from a traditional base in a consensual collective endeavour to forms which are rationalised by commodification and led by individuals with interests which are separated from the purposes of the population as a whole :: comments

In which culture moves from a traditional base in a consensual collective endeavour to forms which are rationalised by commodification and led by individuals with interests which are separated from the purposes of the population as a whole

As promised: now available for sale, Whisperado's debut CD, the six-song EP Some Other Place. Whisperado is two-thirds bloggers, two-thirds...

In which culture moves from a traditional base in a consensual collective endeavour to forms which are rationalised by commodification and led by individuals with interests which are separated from the purposes of the population as a whole -- comment #1 from Paul

Wed, 25 Jan 2006 20:00:11 -0500

Congratulations. :) You don't seem to be showing up on CDBaby yet; is that something still in-progress?

Posted January 25, 2006 8:00 PM by Paul

In which culture moves from a traditional base in a consensual collective endeavour to forms which are rationalised by commodification and led by individuals with interests which are separated from the purposes of the population as a whole -- comment #2 from Janice in GA

Wed, 25 Jan 2006 21:38:38 -0500

The songs apparently aren't quite ready for download at Alison's site yet.

Posted January 25, 2006 9:38 PM by Janice in GA

In which culture moves from a traditional base in a consensual collective endeavour to forms which are rationalised by commodification and led by individuals with interests which are separated from the purposes of the population as a whole -- comment #3 from Josh Jasper

Wed, 25 Jan 2006 22:19:20 -0500

May I suggest you pester CDBaby to eventualy get it up on eMusic, so people can buy it without the stupid iTunes music store cripling the files?

Posted January 25, 2006 10:19 PM by Josh Jasper

In which culture moves from a traditional base in a consensual collective endeavour to forms which are rationalised by commodification and led by individuals with interests which are separated from the purposes of the population as a whole -- comment #4 from Joshua Ellis

Wed, 25 Jan 2006 23:13:46 -0500

It'll be available on Mperia.com at some point, which means it will be DRM-free. (I know, 'cause I'm the co-founder of Mperia).

Not sure when, as CDBaby sends us stuff on their own schedule. But soon.

Posted January 25, 2006 11:13 PM by Joshua Ellis

In which culture moves from a traditional base in a consensual collective endeavour to forms which are rationalised by commodification and led by individuals with interests which are separated from the purposes of the population as a whole -- comment #5 from Patrick Nielsen Hayden

Thu, 26 Jan 2006 00:27:16 -0500

Dunno what the problem with Alison's links is. They worked as of a few days ago.

As for the politics of CDBaby, iTunes, eMusic, etc., allow me to restate my basic position, which is that one of the things I most like about being in Whisperado is that I take No Significant Management Role. That said, I like eMusic a lot. Indeed, if you go here and click on "Downloads" you can see just how much I like eMusic. But I like having a "Here I am, where do I plug in?" role in Whisperado even more.

Posted January 26, 2006 12:27 AM by Patrick Nielsen Hayden

In which culture moves from a traditional base in a consensual collective endeavour to forms which are rationalised by commodification and led by individuals with interests which are separated from the purposes of the population as a whole -- comment #6 from Patrick Nielsen Hayden

Thu, 26 Jan 2006 00:29:19 -0500

(As for iTunes, I personally buy stuff from them all the time, and will continue to do so as long as their DRM is so transparently beatable. All you need to to is burn your iTunes Music Store files to a CD, then re-import the CD as mp3s. Cost: one blank CD. I do this all the time. Your mileage may vary.)

Posted January 26, 2006 12:29 AM by Patrick Nielsen Hayden

In which culture moves from a traditional base in a consensual collective endeavour to forms which are rationalised by commodification and led by individuals with interests which are separated from the purposes of the population as a whole -- comment #7 from Christina Schulman

Thu, 26 Jan 2006 03:11:00 -0500

Whisperado is two-thirds bloggers, two-thirds Jewish, two-thirds computer professionals, two-thirds left-wingers, two-thirds car owners, and two-thirds Brooklynites.

The one on the right is on the left, and the guy in the rear is a Methodist?

Posted January 26, 2006 3:11 AM by Christina Schulman

In which culture moves from a traditional base in a consensual collective endeavour to forms which are rationalised by commodification and led by individuals with interests which are separated from the purposes of the population as a whole -- comment #8 from Alison Scott

Thu, 26 Jan 2006 03:30:34 -0500

I was worried those links would fail; they had a whiff of 'one session only' about them; but then I tried them on different computers and they were ok so I linked them. They've obviously now expired. Here's what you need to do.

Go to Whisperado's electronic press kit. Click on 'audio'. There are three tracks for download -- described as 'standard' rather than 'stream'. To download obviously you have to rightclick and save.

Posted January 26, 2006 3:30 AM by Alison Scott

In which culture moves from a traditional base in a consensual collective endeavour to forms which are rationalised by commodification and led by individuals with interests which are separated from the purposes of the population as a whole -- comment #9 from Alison Scott

Thu, 26 Jan 2006 03:33:02 -0500

Oh, and the point about DRM is that it's digital rights. When you burn your mp3 to CD and then reimport it, that's a lossy transfer. Nobody is terribly worried about lossy copying; it's the making of perfect copies that gives people the willies.

Posted January 26, 2006 3:33 AM by Alison Scott

In which culture moves from a traditional base in a consensual collective endeavour to forms which are rationalised by commodification and led by individuals with interests which are separated from the purposes of the population as a whole -- comment #10 from Patrick Nielsen Hayden

Thu, 26 Jan 2006 07:20:49 -0500

"Nobody is terribly worried about lossy copying"

I don't actually think that's true. The fact is, the mp3s you get by burning DRMed Apple files to a CD and reimporting them are often higher-quality than un-DRMed mp3s available through other channels. I think the RIAA is perfectly capable of having hissy fits over copies that aren't audiophilically perfect.

Posted January 26, 2006 7:20 AM by Patrick Nielsen Hayden

In which culture moves from a traditional base in a consensual collective endeavour to forms which are rationalised by commodification and led by individuals with interests which are separated from the purposes of the population as a whole -- comment #11 from Patrick Nielsen Hayden

Thu, 26 Jan 2006 07:40:09 -0500

As for the sample songs, I've cut through the confusion by hosting them myself and changing the link on the front-page post. When Alison updates her own page to link to my hosted versions, I'll revert the front-page link to go through her page, because anyone who likes our stuff is liable to like a bunch of her other recommendations.

Posted January 26, 2006 7:40 AM by Patrick Nielsen Hayden

In which culture moves from a traditional base in a consensual collective endeavour to forms which are rationalised by commodification and led by individuals with interests which are separated from the purposes of the population as a whole -- comment #12 from Charlie Stross

Thu, 26 Jan 2006 10:11:21 -0500

There's another way to avoid iTunes DRM, if so inclined: if you use a Mac [I can't speak for Windows], make damned sure you never upgrade from iTunes 5.0.1 to iTunes 6. If you've got a new machine but have never used the iTunes music store or created an Apple ID you can downgrade safely from iTunes 6 to 5.0.1; and if you stick to 5.0.1 you're still on the old, easier to crack, DRM: but once you access the store with iTunes 6 it beefs up the DRM encryption massively.

JHymn (clue: google on it) can then strip the DRM tags from the files you've purchased (using iTunes 5.0.1 or earlier).

(Sermon: I know this not because I'm into pirating music, but because I change computer and/or MP3 player compulsively on a several-monthly basis, and I don't want to end up losing access to music I've paid for. And while Patrick is undoubtedly right about the "burn to CD, then reimport" workaround, I don't see why I should accept even that much lossage for something I've paid for. As Cory put it so succinctly, DRM punishes honest customers, and while I'm pretty honest, I'm not stupid enough to repeatedly punch myself in the face on behalf of the RIAA.)

Posted January 26, 2006 10:11 AM by Charlie Stross

In which culture moves from a traditional base in a consensual collective endeavour to forms which are rationalised by commodification and led by individuals with interests which are separated from the purposes of the population as a whole -- comment #13 from AliceB

Thu, 26 Jan 2006 12:01:16 -0500

Brilliant thread title! (I love truth in advertizing). Oh, and congratulations, too.

Posted January 26, 2006 12:01 PM by AliceB

In which culture moves from a traditional base in a consensual collective endeavour to forms which are rationalised by commodification and led by individuals with interests which are separated from the purposes of the population as a whole -- comment #14 from Jon Sobel

Thu, 26 Jan 2006 12:06:14 -0500

I am opposed to paying for lossy music files in the first place. One of my favorite places to buy music downloads is Magnatune because, in addition to selling a lot of excellent early/baroque music, they offer uncompressed downloads. I want to buy what the musicians and producers came out of the studio intending for me to hear.

Whisperado's tracks, will, however, be available for download at iTunes and elsewhere. We're not dumb...

Posted January 26, 2006 12:06 PM by Jon Sobel

In which culture moves from a traditional base in a consensual collective endeavour to forms which are rationalised by commodification and led by individuals with interests which are separated from the purposes of the population as a whole -- comment #15 from Thaedeus Zefuldar

Thu, 26 Jan 2006 12:16:44 -0500

Hey! You might want to consider posting some demo
tracks up at mixposure
I have been doing it for a while, and it is a great place to
get reviews and exposure (and maybe generate some more
sales).

--thaedeus (of Divergent Future)

Posted January 26, 2006 12:16 PM by Thaedeus Zefuldar

In which culture moves from a traditional base in a consensual collective endeavour to forms which are rationalised by commodification and led by individuals with interests which are separated from the purposes of the population as a whole -- comment #16 from Charlie Stross

Thu, 26 Jan 2006 13:55:59 -0500

Question for Patrick: are there going to be any CDs on sale at Boskone? (I'd rather hand 100% of the cover price to the musicians than 90% of it to the iTunes music store.)

Posted January 26, 2006 1:55 PM by Charlie Stross

In which culture moves from a traditional base in a consensual collective endeavour to forms which are rationalised by commodification and led by individuals with interests which are separated from the purposes of the population as a whole -- comment #17 from Patrick Nielsen Hayden

Thu, 26 Jan 2006 14:32:13 -0500

Yes, I'll certainly have some at Boskone.

Posted January 26, 2006 2:32 PM by Patrick Nielsen Hayden

In which culture moves from a traditional base in a consensual collective endeavour to forms which are rationalised by commodification and led by individuals with interests which are separated from the purposes of the population as a whole -- comment #18 from candle

Thu, 26 Jan 2006 16:12:34 -0500

Do you sing about demanding women or about women who are demanding? Not being American myself, I'd be interested to know which of these qualifies as an American essential.

I'll check out the downloads when I'm not at my work connection. Good luck with the sales!

Posted January 26, 2006 4:12 PM by candle

In which culture moves from a traditional base in a consensual collective endeavour to forms which are rationalised by commodification and led by individuals with interests which are separated from the purposes of the population as a whole -- comment #19 from Robert L

Thu, 26 Jan 2006 21:38:33 -0500

Reimporting mp3s from a CD you burned shouldn't have any loss as long as the bit rate you reimport them at is the same as the bit rate they started out as.

Posted January 26, 2006 9:38 PM by Robert L

In which culture moves from a traditional base in a consensual collective endeavour to forms which are rationalised by commodification and led by individuals with interests which are separated from the purposes of the population as a whole -- comment #20 from Jon Sobel

Sat, 28 Jan 2006 20:20:54 -0500

Charlie (and whoever else may be interested): iTunes is not as evil as you think. Of the $0.99 you would spend for a Whisperado track, the band would receive $0.65 (assuming distribution is facilitated through CD Baby - other distribution arrangements may vary). The iTunes Music Store is not a big profit center for Apple. It is a way to sell lots and lots of iPods.

candle: we sing about women who are demanding. But now that you bring it up, I feel I really must try to write a song that is a demand for women.

Posted January 28, 2006 8:20 PM by Jon Sobel

In which culture moves from a traditional base in a consensual collective endeavour to forms which are rationalised by commodification and led by individuals with interests which are separated from the purposes of the population as a whole -- comment #21 from John M. Ford

Sat, 28 Jan 2006 22:23:55 -0500

I feel I really must try to write a song that is a demand for women.

I believe Oscar Hammerstein II beat you to it (with the line "What ain't we got/Ya know damn well") but I'll swipe a metric from him anyway:

Guy tucked in corners remembering faces
Songs about lipstick in hard-to-reach places
Stiff-upper-lippishmen cooing for ducks
All of them saying that solitude sucks

Gable and Lombard off cutting some capers
Cary and Rosalind peddling their papers
Bogie and Baby igniting a spark
That's how we learned what you do in the dark

Audible breathing that fogs up your glasses
(Don't mind the Parker who groused about passes)
Sacking the temples and bending the frames
These are the clichés we have about dames

When the night falls
And there's silence
After those goodbyes
I think how I feel when a girl's by my side
And then it intensifies.

Posted January 28, 2006 10:23 PM by John M. Ford

In which culture moves from a traditional base in a consensual collective endeavour to forms which are rationalised by commodification and led by individuals with interests which are separated from the purposes of the population as a whole -- comment #22 from Bruce Arthurs

Sat, 28 Jan 2006 22:47:18 -0500

Jon Sobel wrote:
"candle: we sing about women who are demanding. But now that you bring it up, I feel I really must try to write a song that is a demand for women."

Hmmm. Could the next movie-into-Broadway-production possibly be...

MARS NEEDS WOMEN: THE MUSICAL

Posted January 28, 2006 10:47 PM by Bruce Arthurs

In which culture moves from a traditional base in a consensual collective endeavour to forms which are rationalised by commodification and led by individuals with interests which are separated from the purposes of the population as a whole -- comment #23 from candle

Sun, 29 Jan 2006 01:01:01 -0500

It may have been done already:

"Bring on the Girls"

Not that that's a reason to stop.

Posted January 29, 2006 1:01 AM by candle