So the main reason I'm posting this story isn't because of that revelation but because of this hilarious quote from the MetaFilter discussion:
[McGuinness:] Notwithstanding the promotional noise, even Radiohead’s honesty box principle showed that if not constrained, the customer will steal music.
[MF Poster:] Damn, think of all the music the world could have listened to, if it
weren't for those damned thieves. Now it's stolen, so we'll never be
able to enjoy it. And I would never have been the wiser if it wasn't
for the child molester* Paul McGuinness. Paul McGuinness, rapist of
children that he is, knows a thing or two about music theft. The infant
poker Paul McGuinness also knows a thing or two about abusing the
English language to change the meanings of words to suit your own
purposes.
* Child Rapist: (n.) One who expects children to pay $15 for a CD.
This is only semi-related (and I know I have readers who lionize Bono) but the more I think about it, the more I think that he (and anybody who is a multimillionaire in a world where more than half of the people on it live on less than $2 a day) is a gi-normous prick. If you're a "greed is good - the more for me, the better" millionaire capitalist, I can almost understand your viewpoint. I don't agree with you and you're still a prick but I can understand why you might see the world that way.
But when you base a big part of your life like Bono does advocating on behalf of those 3 billion extremely poor people but still don't seem to realise that either the entire developed world has to reign in their excesses because we simply can't exist at that level of consumption, you are also a massive hypocrite. (And I admit that until I give up 99% of my worldly goods, stop using as much fuel as I do, stop buying useless shit from China that I barely use, etc. etc. I too am a hypocrite. But I am not a MASSIVE hypocrite on the scale at which Bono exists - where, as a single individual, he has a net worth which is exponentially greater than the amount of money I will earn in my working life pus the fact that he leads a band that has earned over a billion dollars during its existence by some estimates. Sure, I might have to give up fuel and dollar store trinkets to clear my conscience but Bono needs to give up his private jet and four thousand-dollar vintage wines.
(Now where'd I put that "rant" tag? I know I left it around here somewhere.)
There was a very significant development in the ongoing mutation of the music industry today. last.fmjust announcedthat they are now offering limited, on-demand streaming of various artists and tracks.
Naturally, there's also all kinds of commentary, speculation and further linkage on MetaFilter, Reddit and TechCrunch (and probably a bunch of your other favourite web sites around the Net.)
I joked a few entries ago that being on the road doing computer training in rural libraries might mean I have more time for blogging. Wrong! I'm just back to my hotel now, at the end of a jam-packed 13-hour day. Tomorrow will potentially be an even longer day as I will hit two nearby towns for six hours of training each. The good news is that I finish early on Friday - except I still have a 2.5 hour drive home to Regina.
One good piece of news coming out of all this is that my sister and brother-in-law gave my parents a satellite radio system for Christmas and since the intention was for my parents to mostly use it in spring, summer and fall while they're camping or boating, I get to break it in while I'm on the road for the next couple months.
So today was my first day with the gimzo and it's a great break from the 6 or so AM stations I can pick up (2 oldies, 2 talk radio/CBC, 2 country) and the 3 or so FM stations that come in depending on how far I am from Regina (1 country, CBC2 and 1 that apparently only plays AC/DC).
There are issues - it's worse than a TV remote for encouraging clicking from channel to channel which is fine if you're parked on a couch, not so great if you're piloting a vehicle. They could use a few stations - they have an Elvis channel and a Springsteen channel but no Beatles channel (I'd never change the channel then either which would be a nice safety feature.) They have BBC1 but no Britpop channel. I'd love to hear a channel that plays a wide variety of classic albums from all genres and eras in their entirety (another thing that would discourage couch driver's side surfing.)
I don't know if I'd buy one for myself for either home or car since I listen to CD's, MP3's and Net Radio mostly. But for the next two months, it'll be a great companion as I travel the backroads of SE Saskatchewan.
Radiohead are usually extremely innovative with any multimedia products they put out - from videos to concert films to web sites (although the current version is quite traditional compared to what they've done in the past.)
That makes this hour long video they recently released of them performing all the songs from "In Rainbows" in a recording studio with no other elements except some artsy bumpers between songs a bit disappointing.
But hey, it's Radiohead so on another level, it's all cool.
[Edit: the last song in the video has some "Street Spirit"-esque slow mo. There you go. Cool confirmed.]
Quinn has posted a great article on his site (I've bolded the really fascinating part below):
At the risk of jinxing things - I think it’s
pretty clear that there’s a historic shift underway between activities
we used to engage in offline and things we now do online. It’s no
surprise, for example, that CD saleswere down 20% this US holiday season while online shopping was up 19%. That’s how it works, right? People are moving from one marketplace to another, more virtual one.
Another dataset released this weekend, however, paints a more complex picture. According to the newest study from the Pew Internet and American Life Center -
the youngest, most affluent and most internet-connected adults in the
US are also the most likely to visit a physical library. It wasn’t that
way just 10 years ago. How many
other legacy industries can you think of today that can say their
strongest growth is among young, affluent, power-internet users? Something is going very right in library land. The music business ought to pay close attention to what’s going on there.”
) but the more I think about it, the more I think that he (and anybody who is a multimillionaire in a world where more than half of the people on it live on less than $2 a day) is a gi-normous prick. If you're a "greed is good - the more for me, the better" millionaire capitalist, I can almost understand your viewpoint. I don't agree with you and you're still a prick but I can understand why you might see the world that way. 
