Free as in freedom for music .
April 5th, 2006 by taggy
The world today is bound by so many rules.I try taking a leaf out of the revolutionary movement which started at MIT and given this world a a very powerful ,free Operating system and coming with it a great set of tools.I realise Free software is more about the philosophy and the changes it wants to bring in to this world than the software itself.I am curious if this can be applied to Music too.
Iam a to-be-engineer and my life has pretty much revolved around it.
And always a big fan of both technology and music.Neither of these work without the other for me.
And hence i try to find a correlation between these two .I believe very firmly in the philosophy of Free software and opensource movement.Its not about technology or
software that motivates me, its the underlying objective and the goals it attempts to realise A harmonious society .
I feel much better when iam able to share my codes or applications that i like to use with my friends without being worried about the copyrights.What if the law catches up with me ?.
Imagine a world where in a child is being reprimanded simply coz he shared his favourite cartoon serial with his friend,simply because the copyright notice makes him a Pirate.Is the world we really want to pass on to the next generation?.Definitely not .A world where there is a free flow of knowledge ,information and oppurtunity.
Music as everyone calls it, has become a very important part of our lives.Everyone listens to some music and he feels better everytime he does it.Sometimes it soothes you,sometimes it inspires you , sometimes it make you think.
When there is so much importance attached to it? why not apply the same model applied to Software to Music too.
An open model of music where in people create music and put up for downloads giving the user to share it with anyone he wants to. A free flow of music or sounds that can motivate people , that can make people think , that can make people smile.
I realise when i say this ,it cuts down heavily on the income of people.For today music is a thriving industry.But wait ! somewhere i did say .The philosophy of free software movement is more about the philosophy than the technology it aspires to change.
Music is more about the people it managed to reach than the people who create it.
Imagine a time when we don’t have to wait outside a music shop to but the music that is supposed to be great or a creative juice.Never mind the day when you can upload your favourite song on the net and let everyone appreciate it.
Free music can go a long way in bringing man down to humanity ,in chase of commerce , there is a deep fear inside me that makes me think we are running away from what it is.
Iam not sure of how much it manages to affect the creator or the authors income.But iam sure there would be people who believe there is something great about FREE Free as in freedom .
Posted in Music |

April 6th, 2006 at 9:50 am
you nailed it Taggy! this is the hardest and easiest thing ever yet.
hard coz this means every ( i mean every) artist would have to start thinking in these lines and forgo potential income from record sales, although they could continue to make money through road shows, accessories and other paraphernalia!
easy coz what it takes to enable such a platform is technology! Today’s world of OSS can enable this at not much cost.
Problem is, like all other things we get for free (land, water, sunshine, air) and still have been commoditized so bad, music continues to be controlled and worked through distribution channels which claim that there is a threshold price to creating a record or launching an artist.
But the numbers from legit pay-per-song downloads are speaking otherwise and it will not be long before we hit a chord.
However, I still think music(media) enabled services should continue to be a source of income for corporate media houses.
April 6th, 2006 at 4:37 pm
yes uday ! i too realise everyone has a right to income and they should haveit. But the question is HOW MUCH ? :p
somehow
i wrote this articles wothout having a solution at hand.
April 6th, 2006 at 6:13 pm
Im the biggest pirate eva…and I believe in the concept of FREE SOFTWARE and MUSIC…I know how much of efforts people actually put-in in the making of music n all…but then..when its available for free, y spend money on it