<story><title>HipHop: A &quot;Popcorn Time&quot; for music</title><url>http://gethiphop.net/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>angusb</author><text>I know that there&amp;#x27;s a kick to be got out of circumventing the draconian rules big music&amp;#x2F;film industry lobby into law, but what do the writers think about independents that they effectively take down in the same blow? This is a genuine question, not an attack.&lt;p&gt;I&amp;#x27;ve spent a lot of time studying&amp;#x2F;writing&amp;#x2F;playing music and through that have got to personally know many of the most talented and versatile musicians I&amp;#x27;ve ever come across. These people are skilled like Douglas Crockford, John Resig, you name it. But they have to make the assumption that the music they want to do - their own music - will never make any money in a recorded format, forcing them to do wedding gigs during the day instead.&lt;p&gt;I&amp;#x27;m interested to know what people think about this. Do people think that the end (taking power away from big music industry) justifies the loss for those small-time players, or is it something that simply hasn&amp;#x27;t been considered at all?&lt;p&gt;Do you have a justification for saying that all music should be free, or is it just that it would be nice if all music was free?</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>krig</author><text>&amp;gt; I&amp;#x27;m interested to know what people think about this. Do people think that the end (taking power away from big music industry) justifies the loss for those small-time players, or is it something that simply hasn&amp;#x27;t been considered at all?&lt;p&gt;My opinion: The end justifies the loss.&lt;p&gt;Secure and private file sharing is going to be essential for ensuring liberty in the future. I am absolutely convinced about that. You can&amp;#x27;t have that and make piracy impossible at the same time. The people who make tools for circumventing digital restrictions today are doing the groundwork for essential technology of the future.</text></comment>
<story><title>HipHop: A &quot;Popcorn Time&quot; for music</title><url>http://gethiphop.net/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>angusb</author><text>I know that there&amp;#x27;s a kick to be got out of circumventing the draconian rules big music&amp;#x2F;film industry lobby into law, but what do the writers think about independents that they effectively take down in the same blow? This is a genuine question, not an attack.&lt;p&gt;I&amp;#x27;ve spent a lot of time studying&amp;#x2F;writing&amp;#x2F;playing music and through that have got to personally know many of the most talented and versatile musicians I&amp;#x27;ve ever come across. These people are skilled like Douglas Crockford, John Resig, you name it. But they have to make the assumption that the music they want to do - their own music - will never make any money in a recorded format, forcing them to do wedding gigs during the day instead.&lt;p&gt;I&amp;#x27;m interested to know what people think about this. Do people think that the end (taking power away from big music industry) justifies the loss for those small-time players, or is it something that simply hasn&amp;#x27;t been considered at all?&lt;p&gt;Do you have a justification for saying that all music should be free, or is it just that it would be nice if all music was free?</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>aaren</author><text>Musicians have only recently been able to make money from recorded media. I see this as a temporary anomaly allowed by the state of technology in the 20th century (i.e. existence of mass media as a physical product).&lt;p&gt;Musicians (and other artists) can still make money from e.g. performing live - which I&amp;#x27;m assuming was their dominant form of income before the 20th century.&lt;p&gt;I don&amp;#x27;t believe that a monetary incentive is necessary for good art. I understand that artists need to eat, but also that not everyone can eat from being an artist.&lt;p&gt;The internet is very important to me as an open and free resource. I can&amp;#x27;t see how information can be made non-private and scarce at the same time, so I can&amp;#x27;t see how we can pay for music and keep the internet as I want it.</text></comment>