-Issa: As a strong believer in capitalism, I admire Issa’s “self-determined pricing:” it truly allows the free market to determine the worth of the artist. Assuming that we can respect the industry of the consumer (or at least most consumers)- and if we can’t then what’s the point of capitalism- then what this means is that the money a fan spends on their favorite music represents how much they appreciate and support the artist in question. Sure, some people might buy the album for free or for a few cents regardless, but the more fans an artist garners, the more chance they will have to find the ones who will pay a reasonable amount, not to mention those special benefactors who will cough up a thousand dollars for a single artist knowing that it will help support their favorite artist.
-Atomic Tom: Having played around with apps similar to those demonstrated by the band I must applaud their ability to not only play a proper song with them, but to do so all together whilst staying on beat. That said, this highlights an issue noted in my entry about creativity, ownership etc.: that the medium is less important than the content. Atomic Tom have proven that if a song is good enough it doesn’t matter what instrument it is played on (and more importantly that the digital age makes it possible for everyone to be an artist) but the problem is that, in my assessment at least, the song is not good enough.
-Story of Cosmetics: While I admire the style of presentation and some of the points she has to make- particularly on her attack against skin whitening products- I disagree on many counts. Although this video is not as well presented, and takes a couple minutes to really get to the point, it pretty much states all the issues with Story of Cosmetics better than I can: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxO3bPNyWzo&feature=related
-Wiki on Remixes: First off, I love the reference at the beginning to Sprite Remix. Other than that, what I find interesting to note is the mention of the early history of the remix, highlighting that rudimentary forms of it have been possible since the beginning of recorded sound. What I like about this is that it supports what I consider to be the most important aspect of the digital age: that it doesn’t so much make more things possible as it does make things possible for everyone. The tools needed for a remix can now fit in anything from a decked-out studio to an iphone, meaning that art is losing all sense of elitism, though hopefully the free market and the like will still allow for some quality control.
-Fair Use: Fair use is a lovely legal loophole. Since I don’t have a TV and can’t afford many videogames (certainly not as many as I’d like) fair use makes possible one of my favorite forms of entertainment in the modern age: internet reviews. Those clauses about “quotation of excerpts in a review or criticism,” and “use in a parody,” can be interpreted in many fascinating and entertaining ways. Here are some of my favorites:
http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/videolinks/linkara/at4w/10629-batmanfort
http://redlettermedia.com/plinkett/star-trek/star-trek-09/
http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/videolinks/teamt/rap-critic/rap-critic-reviews/30238-no-love
http://www.d2brigade.net/shows/josmain/jo-anime-review/351-jo-anime-review-azumanga-daioh
Also, it would be remiss of me not to use this opportunity to plug my own planned exploitation of fair use in a series of seven of eight analytical videos that I’ll be releasing this summer to coincide with a certain much awaited film release.
-“Bound by Law:” This again makes note of fair use, though this time examining it in context as part of the much larger issue of copyright. My interpretation on their notion of fair use as allowing artists to play “blind man’s bluff,” when using copyrighted material is that one cap peek through the blindfold by researching a simple query; is the copyright holder a dick? If not, then there’s a good chance they don’t have their lawyers out conducting manhunts for anyone using their work.
-American Lawbreaking: Not much to say here, just that I like how it highlights what is probably the main reason behind fair use: publicity. Fans create videos that use copyrighted material. If you take it down, you gain nothing and probably waste your legal department’s time. If you leave it up, you increase the chance that it could go viral and introduce your product to millions of people.
-Disney Videos: Let me start by saying that I love Donald Duck; easily my favorite of the classic Disney cartoon characters. I found the first video fascinating in how it recontextualized Donald’s typical plight in a way that, while certainly more directly related to politics than anything Disney ever tackled, (that didn’t contain Nazis anyway http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iumEGAUceDg) was still very much true to the character. Also, while the video’s author was probably, shall we say, left leaning, speaking as someone who’s considerably more conservative than liberal I found the message of this remix encouraging- not that right wing ideas are all bad, but that we need to beware of getting caught up in all forms of paranoia that extreme elements in the press create (that and Glenn Beck is an absolutely despicable human being).
I also really enjoyed the Snow White remix, significantly more than I enjoy that particular movie. I love how it clearly only uses sounds from the original film, yet is still so distinctly hip-hop. I can’t help but wonder as to the actual content of this Pirates of the Caribbean remix. Given the Snow White mix, it seems unlikely that there’s anything truly objectionable about it, so it’s likely Bruckheimer’s personal tastes or agendas at play.
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