Speaking of sampling

Begin forwarded message:

> From: "Grey Tuesday" <[email protected]>
> Date: Fri Mar 5, 2004 3:47:22 PM America/New_York
> To: [email protected]
> Subject: Grey Tuesday - Where next.
>
> This is probably the last email you'll receive from us. If you don't
> have time to read it, please check out these two links:
> http://www.jayzconstructionset.com/
> http://www.downhillbattle.org/lists/?p=subscribe&id=2
>
>
> Grey Tuesday folks,
>
> More than a week after the event, the Grey Tuesday protest keeps
> getting bigger. There's been press coverage in the New York Times,
> NME, the Guardian, the Christian Science Monitor, and this weekend
> there's going to be two pieces running on MTV. If you don't already
> feel like you participated in something genuinely new and amazing,
> search for Grey Tuesday on Google News. The Grey Album is fun to
> listen to and the protest is the first of its kind, so it was the
> perfect occasion for press to talk about copyright law and how the
> major labels use it to stifle creativity. But after a huge success
> like this, the question is always "where next?" This is a long
> email, but please keep reading. If we make the right moves we can
> keep this issue in the news and convert Grey Tuesday momentum into a
> force for permanent reform.
>
> FIRST:
> http://www.jayzconstructionset.com/
> "The Jay-Z Construction Set is a toolkit with all of the necessary
> software and raw materials to create a new remix of Jay-Z's Black
> Album. It includes nine different variations on the Black Album, over
> 1200 clip art images, and a couple hundred meg of classic samples and
> breaks." It even comes with Audacity and GIMP, open source software
> for making your own remix and cover art. Thanks to a hot tip from
> Downhill Battle this new kind of "active" compilation is already
> bursting into the mainstream, which is exactly where it should be.
> http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1485526/20040303/
> jay_z.jhtml?headlines=true
>
> The JCS is nine different versions of the Black Album all in one
> place, and it's a simple, concrete way to make an important
> philosophical point: our culture flourishes when people engage it and
> make it their own. If you have a website or blog, please give it a
> link.
>
> SECOND:
> We can and should follow up Grey Tuesday's defiance with a concrete
> and reasonable proposal for 'legalizing' sample based music. A
> compulsory licensing system similar to the one used for cover songs
> could easily create a legal space in which sample-based music could
> thrive. Certainly, legislative change inside the U.S. is unrealistic
> in the short term. And, ideally, deeper reforms would be made that
> gave musicians the same bureaucracy-free rights to make collage that
> visual artists enjoy. But if we could point to a simple and workable
> system for compulsory sample licensing, we could make it crystal
> clear, every time this issue arises, that the major labels don't have
> a leg to stand on. Downhill Battle is considering creating an
> organization that would fashion a compulsory licensing scheme and
> stand up for the rights of sample-based musicians. If you have
> experience, connections, or legal expertise that you could contribute
> to this project, please let us know. ** Please don't post about this
> on your blog, or write about it anywhere,
> since we're not sure how this will proceed **
>
> THIRD:
> One of the most important parts of the Downhill Battle project has
> been our interview series.
> http://www.downhillbattle.org/interviews/sage_francis.html
> We've spoken with prominent independent musicians and independent
> label owners about filesharing, the major label system, and the future
> of music scenes. The interviews are extremely important: the RIAA is
> able to issue all kinds of ridiculous statements about DJs "stealing
> music" but no one is paying attention to what independent label owners
> and musicians have to say. If you'd like to interview prominent
> figures in underground hip hop and electronic dance music, please
> contact us. Our site gets quite a bit of traffic; the interviews you
> do will get read. You'll need to be a good writer (send us some stuff
> you've written).
>
> FINALLY:
> Downhill Battle is focused on ending the major label monopoly, and
> we're on a roll. If you want to see a music business where sampling
> is legal, where record labels don't bribe radio stations, and where
> musicians can get their music into the mainstream without signing a
> terrible contract or compromising their sound and their principles,
> this project could honestly be the best place to put your time and
> energy.
>
> Here is our get involved page, where you can tell us where you are,
> what music you're into, and what skills you have. This is the best
> way we have to keep track of people who want to help, and so far it's
> worked pretty well.
> http://www.downhillbattle.org/lists/?p=subscribe&id=2
>
> ESPECIALLY:
> We *always* need help with design, both web, and print. Many of the
> Grey Tuesday sites were very well designed, so we know some of you
> have skills. Our upcoming projects include a campaign to get
> independent labels to sign off the RIAA members list (called
> "Shrinking the RIAA") and several design parodies. Just reply to this
> email if you want to do design work. Remind us what your website is,
> and send URLs for other stuff you've done, if you can.
>
> OK. That's it, and thanks again!
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Holmes, Nicholas, and Rebecca
> and the Downhill Battle team
>
>
>
>