Re: [Harp-L] The Internet

[Richard Hammersley <rhhammersley@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

If I were a dedicated perfectionist professional musician like Robert  
Bonfiglio, who had one of the world's best techniques, then I would be  
sorely p****d when someone ripped off my stuff. On the other hand,  
without the internet I would never have heard of Robert Bonfiglio and  
would not hold his work in esteem.

People ripped off Mozart too (and he ripped off others). Rather than  
skills at digitizing things, they needed the skill to listen to a live  
performance and reproduce it from memory.

The Irish satirist Flann O'Brien once argued that poetry should be  
banned, on the grounds that 'nobody makes several tons of jam in the  
hope that a few pounds will be edible'.  The internet is utterly  
undiscriminating, but that is its strength for unusual interests like,  
in my case, free jazz, improvisation and, yes, harmonica. I did not  
see the non digital music industry do a good job of promoting the best  
musicians and music and I don't see them doing this yet. Wading  
through the tons of inedible internet jam, occasionally I find a tasty  
mp3 or two, which pleases me.  I have found a lot of good music via  
harp-l that I would never have come across in a record shop. I prefer  
indiscriminate proliferation to editing and censorship by an economic  
or intellectual elite - who decided what was worth releasing?

Moving on, the Economist published an article recently saying that  
people under 25 expect music to be free. Apparently mobile (cell)  
phones are going to be packaged with 'free' (ie prepaid) access to  
sites for content. This may ruin the recording industry as surely as  
records ruined the live performance industry - ie it probably won't it  
will evolve it it surprising directions - who  in 1972 would have  
predicted the rise of the  'tribute band' ?
Mozart would probably be amazed at all the Mozart tribute bands making  
a living today!

 I  like the pay per play approach (assuming people do not steal in  
appreciable quantities).


Richard