higher open source(Re: [Dynagroove] re: House Discourse 101/house music scene at large)

[t-bird]

--- Fatima Mojaddidy <fatima.mojaddidy at earthlink.net>
wrote:
> "So if you love it enough and want house music to be
> around 5 years from
> now, BUY THE SHIT otherwise it goes away.... " 
> 
> Go away? Have you ever heard of Open Source? (It's
> ok if you haven't, I
> am new to it too... look it up though :)). I'm not
> saying that someone's
> music should be open-source... but hey, great things
> like Linux are
> invented because of people who are passionate and
> dedicated. Building an
> Operating System is no less time consuming or
> difficult than building
> music tracks. Software is being created and modified
> by dedicated people
> who love doing what they're doing... and they are
> doing it better than
> people who do it because it's their job. 

umm...  are these people that are flipping burgers,
selling ties, or something COMPLETELY unrelated to
what they love to pay the rent?  i don't think so.  i
would guess that the people working on linux are
either students or professional software people
moonlighting--bad analogy.

if you don't buy house records, cds or tapes, what
happens is the record distributor doesn't pay the
label (who's product they already have) and they
eventually fold.  the label (usually a small one)
can't get the product back (they'd have to sue the
distributor--which they can't afford and would be
pointless, anyway), can't pay it's bills and fold,
which means they don't compensate the artists.  the
artist goes back to whatever dreary day job they
had--assuming they quit, which they probably didn't
anyway--and along w/getting pissed off, they may quit
making music, BECAUSE they no longer have a channel
for releasing it...  sure, they could put music up on
open source networks or mp3.com, but if nobody knows
who they are (because the label isn't there to promote
them anymore) no-one will download it!  if a tree
falls in a forest and there's nobody around to hear
it, it doesn't matter if it made a sound...
if you think i'm talking out my ass, ask some house
head about larry heard (aka mr. fingers or fingers
inc.)

> Open Source
> is popular enough
> to pose a real threat to Micorsoft/Bill Gates.
> Imagine the whole
> open-source attitude integrated into house
> culture... just think about
> it for a moment and stop buying into the system set
> by the
> establishment... think about the threat to big
> corporate record
> companies... think about the quality of music due to
> real collaboration
> by hard core music lovers... you could modify
> someone else's track only
> if you share the modifications with everyone else so
> they can improve
> it... sounds kind of like remixes but with unlimited
> potential, right? 

yeah.  um, what house producers are signed to major
labels right now?  ben watt?  well, ben's not signed
as ben.  he's part of everything but the girl, and he
does REMIXES on his own.  deep dish was on arista 5
YEARS AGO.  house isn't like rock & roll, man. 
there's plenty of collaboration going on in
house--that's why there's so many small labels...  
besides, music is much more subjective than software. 
if you do something wrong programming, someone can
objectively point out a mistake, and often the
software may not work properly.  if a track doesn't
"work" (i.e., people don't understand or like it), you
can't show someone a "mistake."  sometimes people just
aren't ready...

> "Just off the top of my head - Prime Distribution
> (one of 
> if not the biggest dist.) , Hooj (the label and the
> stores), groovetech
> US and UK, UCMG, higher source, have all gone under
> in the last 3
> months..." 
> 
> Hence, my comment... if you're into the money, this
> music is not for
> you.
> 
> Peace, Fatima.

i have a hard time thinking that hooj tunes,
groovetech & higher source were all about money. 
hooj has put out several classics, groovetech stocked
multiple genres, had copious sound samples, AND
carried many different music streams from all over the
world--oh, did i mention the streaming was free to the
end user?  i never went to the oc shop, but i'd heard
from several people that higher source was one of the
best shops in all of l.a.  all sorts of shops get bad
reputations, but i didn't hear anything bad about
higher source--and you know how people love to bitch
in this town...  frankly, i think that a lot of music
retail is imploding and they really were more victims
of that trend than anything else (i'm an ex-record
store geek.)

-t


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