If I had a penny for every downloaded iTunes song...

Today iTunes announced that it hit its 10 billion mark for songs downloaded to date. As promised by their Countdown to 10 Billion Songs contest, the company gave a $10 000 iTunes gift card to the individual that downloaded “I Guess Things Happen That Way” by Johnny Cash. 

Creativity vs. Copyright

Mashup extarodinaire, producer and DJ, Brian Burton, (in)famously known by the self titled moniker, Dander Mouse is an artist with exceptional talent. His immediate yet unsuspecting success erupted when his music experiment, which was intend for him and his close friends, went viral and soon became an internet phenomenon. 

Danger Mouse’s Grey Album is an ingenious collaboration that layers Jay-Z’s A Capella Black Album overtop instrumental tracks and George Harrison’s vocals off The Beatles' White Album.   

While listeners celebrated DJ Danger Mouse’s creative mastery, EMI issued a cease-and-desist order in attempts to squash the album for Burton’s unsolicited use of The Beatles music. By downloading and streaming his creation, fans and anti-copyright activists together challenged archaic copyright law on what was known as Grey Tuesday (exactly six years ago today). 

Since the release of the Grey Album, Danger Mouse has embarked on many music projects which have been tremendously successful. I can’t help but fallow his musical endeavors-- album after album Danger Mouse will not disappoint. In fact, within the last couple of years he has produced some of my faveourite musical masterpieces including his most recent collaboration project Broken Bells, with The Shins’ James Mercer. He has also produced Beck’s Modern Guilt, Gnarls Barkley and Gorilaz’s Demon Days (a little ironic, seeing as how their manager is admittedly adverse to P2P sharing). 

BROKEN BELLS, "THE HIGH ROAD" from EJ on Vimeo.

Gnarls Barkley - Who's Gonna Save My Soul from Chris Milk on Vimeo.

Even after years of his debacle with copyright law and the corporations that lobbied them, Danger Mouse still preservers. Some have even suggested that EMI has repudiated their animosity towards the Grey Album so that they can continue to harpoon other re-mixers and further clamp down on creativity. 

Last year Danger Mouse teamed up with Sparklehorse and David Lynch, on one of his most impressive collaboration projects called Dark Night of the Soul, which featured a wealth of musical talent including, Iggy Pop, The Strokes’ Julian Casablancas and The Flaming Lips. Nonetheless, his rift with EMI still managed to impede the release of his personally funded project. Instead of allowing the album to falter however, listeners were encouraged to buy a blank CD-R that came with a 100+ page book adorned with Lynch’s photographs. 

“All copies will be clearly labeled: ‘For Legal Reasons, enclosed CD-R contains no music. Use it as you will,’ ” a spokesperson for Danger Mouse said. “Due to an ongoing dispute with EMI, Danger Mouse is unable to release the recorded music for Dark Night Of The Soul without fear of being sued by EMI.”

"All copies will be clearly labelled: 'For Legal Reasons, enclosed CD-R contains no music. Use it as you will.'"

-Billboard Magazine 

If we can learn anything from Danger Mouse and his ongoing dispute with EMI, it is that creativity should not be stifled by copyright law. It is about time the music industry reshapes their corporate structure to include and embrace this paradigm shift that is the internet and a thriving re-mix culture.

Off the Wire(d)

Wired -- the brand, magazine and online publication is now tapping into the tablet market. It is no surprise that Wired, the trustworthy tech related news source is dominating the digital distribution game.

Just this past Friday, Wired Magazine CEO, Chris Anderson lead a demonstration at the Technology, Entertainment and Design Conference where he presented a six-month in the making tablet application. Wired, which is known for “breaking the rules for print”, has collaborated with Adobe to create an interactive interface where subscribers can read, watch and participate with the magazine. 

Delighted by the tablet technology, Anderson announced that “we are entering a new era of media, where we finally have a digital platform that allows us to retain all the rich visual features of high-gloss print, from lavish design to glorious photography, while augmenting it with video, animations, additional content and full interactivity.”

Next month's issue will be the first for readers to access Wired via the tablet application. Seeing as how the iPad’s release date is also around the corner, I doubt this is just a timely coincidence. However, in case you are not dazzled by Apple’s iPad, all Adobe AIR applications will be compatible with Flash to satisfy your alternate tablet needs.

What is most impressive is that the design team tweaked their preexisting pages, produced with Adobe InDesign (the standard program used for many magazine publications) to orient their layout so that the user can interact with the articles and advertisements.

It may only be a matter of time before other publications fallow suit and offer their own tailor made Adobe AIR application.  Although a magazine subscription for a tablet would be much cheaper, I am not convinced that impressive graphics and interactivity are enough to entice the average reader to give up their print subscription for a digital one.


 I can’t see every magazine benefiting form this sort of thing. After all, a copy of Vogue would not be as enchanting without its stacked spine, glossy pages and fragrant perfume samples.

A Job Well Done Steve

After reading this article, I am officially sold on Apple's latest creation, the iPad. At first I figured it was just another gadget to temporarily satisfy the Techie’s unquenchable cravings for upgrades and innovation.

 I’ve been duped, yet again, first with the iPod, then with the iMac. Without these things I feel incomplete, as if they are an appendage and imperative to my well being. Sure it may sound a bit extreme, but a day without my iPod would result in some very long and awkwardly silent bus rides. I’d be hard pressed to choose wether I’d rather forget my lunch or my iPod. 

Apple is notorious for creating a lack in the mind of the consumer while simultaneously filling that void with sleek user-friendly electronics. If the iPad were just a jazzed up version of a reader, I can’t say I’d be overly excited about it. Sure carting around books can be cumbersome, but it’s not troubling enough to justify spending money on a  reader. I actually enjoy the tactile experience of reading; I like holding a book and physically turning the pages. It wasn’t until I had a conversation with a fellow Apple enthusiast that I learned that the iPad simulates the act of reading a book, “you can turn pages and highlight” he told me. After hearing this I was impressed, but not yet convinced that the iPad was a practice purchase. 

What really caught my attention was that Apple signed a deal with major publishing companies for its iBook application, which at the very least, could cause an inevitable collapse of Amizon’s Kindle. Now with the choke hold on the e-book industry, Apple has set a new precedent for the way we consume text. This is similar to the Napster era, where downloading ushered in a demand for Mp3 players and Mp3 players, encouraged more downloading, legally and illegally. Seeing as how scanning pages from a book is a much more strenuous procedure than ripping music files, I can’t imagine iPad users will habitually download e-book torrents. 

The iPad, is more than just a reader that can hold your school textbooks. I think Apple's multimedia tablet could  revolutionize what it means to be a student. Just recently, Apple’s iPad SDK revealed that the device has the capability to: entertain video conferencing, synch up network printing, hook up to HD external displays and share a workspace with a desktop. Speaking as a student, presentations and group work have never sounded so enticing.

 Thanks Apple -- life just got a lot easier.