MUSIC PRESERVATION

MUSIC PRESERVATION ONLINE

Over the years, public tastes have been manipulated by the RIAA, and by other "promoters" within the "music industry." (I always objected to the term "Industry" and "Union" when applied to music. A "Guild?" Maybe! But, "Union?" "Industry?") Many extremely talented musicians have been unable to penetrate these inherent barriers. There are countless examples of brilliant compositions and performances that would otherwise have been completely passed over, if not for the "Democratic" nature of the internet. Furthermore, many of those who have been recorded and promoted in the past, have now fallen into the abyss of obscurity; their wonderful, and important musical contributions forever lost. Much akin to the Celtic tribes preserving the history of mankind during "The Dark Ages" when it would otherwise have been forgotten, we now have this exceptional opportunity to preserve audio recordings that have been deemed "of little interest" or "out of print!" Just try finding Michele Colombier's 1970's, brilliant Jazz/Rock/Symphony, "Wings."

My own father, "Gordon Chris Griffin" was inducted into The Music Hall of Fame for his contribution to the ground breaking concert of the Benny Goodman band at Carnegie Hall in 1938. Had it not been for the fact that many years later, Benny "found" the acetates in his closet, this historical performance, now universally acclaimed by the industry and by the general public alike, would have been lost for all eternity. The world wide web is now our closet! Occasionally it becomes necessary to "get to the bottom of our closet" and see what might have "slipped through the cracks." What might we be missing were it not for an accidental discovery, or rediscovery by Someone? Somewhere? Sometime? (My father, along with other members of the band, was a co-author of the ubiquitous arrangement of Sing, Sing, Sing, and for which he has received not one penny. Benny Goodmans' estate has been the sole beneficiary of all duties paid. The system of compensation has never been fair or just!)

Each individual has a different concept of that which is important. Should the RIAA be the only "gatekeeper?" Should they be the sole purveyors of a knowledge base? Should they have despotic determination over that which should be preserved, and that which has little or no value? Well just look back and ask yourself how much have we already lost? Money talks! The rest gets lost! We have the ability to preserve our musical history; not a biased, self-serving history, but a complete record of our musical culture. What is to be our legacy?

Some people were not particularly interested in Elvis Presley, or The Beatles. Some of the best "Big Band" music, that was a natural progression of all that had gone before, happened in the 1970's and 1980's, and continues to this day, basically unsupported by the media. It has been relegated to insignificance by the recording industry. Thus, whenever the industry decides to "revisit" the big bands, it always goes back to Glen Miller--the last remembered point of reference! (Besides Woody Herman, Buddy Rich or Stan Kenton, how much of the general public, or even some big band enthusiasts themselves, were aware of the mind expanding bands of Onzy Matthews, Duke Pearson, Thad Jones-Mel Lewis, Rob McConnell, Gordon Goodwin, etc., etc.) (BTW: Woody Herman died a pauper. His musicians took up a collection to have him buried!)

The bill/law, extending copyright beyond the accepted fifty years is counter productive. The court sanctioned, Gestapo enforcement tactics (invasion of privacy, and sting operations) employed by the RIAA (and their cronies) are an inhibitor to the free exchange of ideas and damaging to the perseverance of human artistry. As a composer/musician myself, I understand the need for "fair market value" for intellectual and creative efforts. But, we don't need to "throw the baby out with the dirty water." Were you to scratch the surface of the music industry, you would find many self-serving "promoters" deciding which music sees the light of day, while true artistry is often lost. "Pay For Play" has been the rule since the beginning of commercial airwaves.

If all "great societies" are remembered by their art, do we really want to be remembered for "inappropriate urination?" Is this truly representative of our society! The damage done by one sociopath with an agenda and a forum, reflects on each of us. John F. Kennedy once said, "if some of our great artists have been the most critical of our society, it is because they are the most sensitive to its short comings." Let us be sensitive to the sensibilities of our fellow countrymen and women. Let us each play a role in the preservation of our history, by allowing us to utilize the available technology for mutual artistic expression and archival purposes.
Too often, America has fallen behind as it prefers to eek out the last ounce of profitability from old or dying technologies while the rest of the world's entry level is with the new, and innovative technologies. We have even allowed unstable technological inhibitors to invade our consumer grade, AND our professional recording equipment. (CPMS! Itunes! Windows Media Player Version 11!) Music is meant to be shared so let's accept the fact that it's a new dawn. 

I believe that once the initial public appetite for a musical product has been realized, and that genuine efforts for compensation have achieved near-maximization, that product should then fall into "limited" public domain. That is: Not to be used for commercial enhancement of another product, or for contributing to the monetary benefit of anyone other than vested parties. Otherwise, to be freely exchanged amongst "enthusiasts" for archival purposes.

A Wake-up Call!

Congress has always been a victim! Victimized by its own dynamics. It listens and "learns" from those whom they themselves have granted an "audience." The tuition fee? Money and connections!

We the American people are all too frequently the losers, and we only need to go back as far as the war of survival between Beta and VHS. Beta was by far the superior product, but VHS lobbied harder....and won! We, the people lost. And to this day, Congress has no idea of the long term damage that they caused.

Technology should not be legislated into preference. While the rest of the worlds' entry level is with cutting edge technology, American capitalist forces doom us to older, and dying technologies so that their creators and their protectionist lobbyists can eek out the last ounce of profitability...or so that a political agenda can receive a preference over another.

Example: The RIAA and its cronies have taken on not just the American people, but the people of the entire world for file sharing and archival/preservation. While the real marvel of the world wide web is to propagate wisdom, (file sharing for archival/preservation) these self serving moguls, who have the preferential access to our elected leaders and present only their own self serving interests, (while the opposing view is limited or even excluded) have ensured that we, the people will only have access to the files that they deem do not conflict with their own special interest. In so doing, they have ventured way beyond even their own intended boundaries, with their one size fits all lobbied for legislation. We, the people have lost innovative technologies at the hands of the special interests, and so the new innovations are coming from less restricted peoples of the world while Americans remain shackled by their own congressional representatives, who in this lobbyist infested dynamic are ill prepared to render logically deduced legislation.

The beginning of the digital era was met by all, with great enthusiasm, and it foretold of amazing possibilities. However, digital reproduction struck a "note"...no... a "symphony" of fear into the vaults of the RIAA. They saw the beginning of the end of their own strangle hold on the creativity of the peoples of the world. Pay for play was under an attack again, an attack that would make the Mario Cuomo inspired payola scandals of the sixties and seventies pale in comparison.

And so they lobbied Congress, and those representatives of the people had little understanding of the impact beyond that which they were being told...and more importantly, that which they were not being told. They were mere putty in the hands of these masters. They bought the arguments presented by this special interest group, hook line and SINKER. And sink we ALL did! As a consequence of this unilateral access to congress, our "representatives" mandated a Copyright Protection Management System (CPMS) into all digital products capable of rendering copies. Not only was the concept behind this additional electronic circuitry inherently flawed, it also served to impede proper functioning of many otherwise excellent products. The rest of the world was not under such constraints and were able to forge ahead with functionality and creativity.  But, these inhibitors to the free exchange of ideas didn't just stop there...they set their sights on the internet and they mounted an all out attack on the peoples of the world. No longer were we to be free to share our legitimate files with those of like mind and spirit. No! CPMS may not function in this domain, but the long tail of the RIAA moguls would wag the dog of a flea infested congress and thus the peoples of the world would know the bite of this rabid dog.

Copyright: In order to encourage the creative thinkers around us, intellectual material needs to be rewarded. However, in order to further encourage comprehensive, next generation creativity, those inhibiting constraints need to be tailored to the twenty first century dynamic. There needs to be a shelf life that takes into account the useful commercial life and the recombinant possibilities in order to prevent missed opportunities while encouraging the development of a better widget.

Imagine if there were perpetual copyright protection on the wheel. And then on the axle, and the chassis.

Today, the rest of the world is waging a battle that is of our making. iTunes! Microsoft!