This is part 7 of 13 of my reaction to RIP: A remix Manifesto. You can find previous posts here: Part 0, Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6.
open source video, online video platform, video solutionI really meant to have this blog series done at this point, but life has gotten in the way. It has been interesting though, as I have had time to get into Girl Talk’s music. I have to say it is very good. It isn’t just simple copy and pasting of music. It is more than that. He makes complex collages of sound. They are new and original works. I encourage you to take a listen to a few of the songs on his MySpace page. Even if they are not your cup of tea, you have to admit there is quite a bit of skill and creativity involved.
If you like his music you can buy his album online. This is where is gets interesting. Girl Talk is part of a newer generation of musicians that are changing the way we buy music. If you click the link to buy his album Illegal Art, you are taken to a page where you name your price. Any price gives you the ability to download the entire album as high-quality 320kbps mp3s. $5 or more adds the option of FLAC files and the option of downloading a seamless (no breaks) version of the entire album. $10 or more give you everything plus a packaged CD when it becomes available. That is pretty cool. It gets better.
After inputting your price, it will take you to the download page. You then download the music. Notice I didn’t say you pay yet. The payment system only comes into play after you have downloaded the music. The system works on the honor system. After you have downloaded the music it will then take you to the paypal page. If you wanted, you could skip paying all together. This is a bold statement for how he wants transactions to work for his music. I would be interested in the statistics for how many people pay. I would guess it is more than people think. Girl Talk is putting is money where his mouth is. He is banking that people will like his music enough to pay him on the honor system. He is allowing people to pay what they think his art is worth.
I downloaded the entire album for free. It was only after I listened to it that I went back and paid him $13. I am sure others have paid less and more. To me, $13 seemed like a fair price. I am sure this payment method is not the way to go for every artist, but it is rather refreshing to see someone be so open and free with their art.
I agree that copyright seems to have gotten out of control. It does indeed seem to be very one sided. So one sided, that it is hard to convince people to even engage in discussion about it.
To save you some time I have found the full version of the remixes mentioned in this segment.
Girl Talk – Bounce That – Professor Matthew Soar at Concordia University in Montréal, as a contribution to the Open Source Cinema Project, teamed with his students and spent what he describes as “three very intensive weeks rotoscoping a concert video” of Girl Talk. They were, he says, inspired by Bob Sabiston’s digital rotoscoping (Snack and Drink, Waking Life, A Scanner Darkly), and by Christine Harold’s OurSpace: Resisting the Corporate Control of Culture, a textbook used for his communications course.
OLIO – A short film that was submitted to Open Source Cinema’s remix contest.
Darth Vader Feels Blue – A touching moment between father and son. Beautiful.
Imagine Rx2008 – A video crash up of george bush & friends performing john lennon’s “imagine” vs. lou reed’s “walk on the wild side.”
I need to find that version of Lessig’s lecture. The talk in this video segment seems to be the same topic as the introduction in his new book Remix. I have just started reading it and will most certainly post my thoughts here. So far it is very much along the lines as this movie. The most notable point is Lessig’s idea of a read/write culture. Not only do we have the ability to consume media, we now have the ability to create and share with ease. Modern technology has democtratized the creative landscape. Technology has truly given the power back to the people.
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