Even the reported bit of the awful Wired article… More »
We’ve taken aim at Wired‘s Panglossian attitude when it comes to the relationship between the Internet and the music business before, mainly because the powers that be at Conde Nast’s ever-shrinking tech bible just make it too easy. Witness the magazine’s latest, and somehow most witless, entrant to its ever-growing “we can write about music, honest!” canon, “Why The Music Industry Hates Guitar Hero,” which somehow manages to be offensive, wrong, and a testament to why Wired should maybe think about scrapping its print edition and just go online. All at once!
A funny thing about this brave new Internet world of ours is something I call the BoingBoing effect. A site that’s a very good aggregator can attract a large audience by posting frequently and picking great and unique things to link to. But if there’s a particular mindset to the site, it can get passed on to its audience incidentally, and be validated by the site’s own popularity and authority. In the case of BoingBoing, a self-proclaimed “directory of wonderful things,” it’s their particular philosophy on the “free” nature of information. As it applies to music, the idea is that the music industry is a criminal enterprise and that music would be much better for everyone if it was free, or at least “pay what you like.” Which is how we get Scott Thill, a music blogger for the biggest tech magazine in the world, saying crazy shit like this.
What better way to show that DIY music videos uploaded to YouTube are the new way that bands are promoting themselves than by conducting an interview with your own brother, who just happens to be in a band that posted a clip of its own on Sunday? More »
By now most sentient beings know how to get free music online, legally or illegally, for better or worse. But for those not down with the program by 2007, Wired has put together a guide to all the ways people can “Cheat The Music Industry,” even if the magazine has a fuzzy definition of what constitutes ripping off those evil money men at the record labels.
A few months ago, Wired magazine ran a cover story on Beck that focused less on his songwriting and more on his music-distribution prowess. And damned if it didn’t draw some of the angriest reader mail we’ve seen. From the new issue’s “Rants + Raves” column: Beck is the ultimate marketing tool. More »