In the old system the CD was valued over all things. As artists (and audience) we bought into the idea that the only thing that mattered was the final product. We were on the 2 year cycle of write, record and release. Then start all over again. Well from all the artists I’ve ever talked to that has very little to do the natural creative cycle and has everything to do with the record companies ability to monetize.

What makes the final recording of a song after its been through the whole process worth more than that fleeting moment of inspiration when the song is just written. Well nothing and as the final product, the CD version of the song, loses its monetary value its time to re-evaluate how we assign value to the rest of the process.

Ive been experimenting lately with uploading songs in different phases of the process. I put up a song called ‘And So We Run’ when i first wrote it, during the ‘romance period’.

Then posted the first time the song was played in front of an audience.

The final version (which i love) will be on the new album. Is one more valuable than the other?

Its time to rethink how we assign ‘value’.

So what do you think has ‘value’?

I had dinner with Michael Mccarty (EMI Publishing) and some of his friends at CMW. A very interesting cast of characters. Among them was Jim Griffin. He’s weaves a good tale and make a solid case for the ISP levy. He lays out his argument for Wired Magazine.

http://www.wired.com/entertainment/music/news/2008/03/portfolio_0327

Its a tough fight, can he win?

This blog represents my ‘other’ interest. When I don’t have my head in a song I spend too much of my time reading and thinking about the ever changing crossroads of art, tech, intellectual property and the digital domain. I’m interested in the overriding principals and concepts of how art will function in the new information age, but also looking at practical applications for those who create and control intellectual property.

Many of you will have seen this. The intersection of art, technology and physics. Gravity at work in a program and in a small way, a new element brought into the artistic process. So many things we haven’t thought of yet. (the music doesn’t hurt)