I love "The Might Be Giants," and it's nice to see them taking this step, but not every musician can start their own on-line store. With Weed files, you just need to have the files on a web site.
With Weed, musicians always get to set the price of the song (usually about a dollar, of course) and get 50% from every sale. Weed publishers Shared Media Licensing, Inc gets just 15%. 35% goes to the people buying then sharing the music. (20%, 10%, then 5% commissions) And sites like ShareNewYork.com make it very easy to buy Weed files, upload them, and review why it's and great song, why you chose it. Whatever the cost of the song, if 5 people buy it, the song has paid for itself. It's also a great place to look for new songs, because most songs are posted with a few words from a fan.
Weed files are legal to share, and will play 3 times for free (on Windows Machines. Macophiles, I feel your pain) They are ideal for new musicians, since it is usually free to get your music in this format, and the music must be original. Now that CD Baby has endorsed Weed, 65,000+ musicians can convert their files by oping in to Weed as part of digital distribution, again for free.
Oh, and Heart's new Album, Jupiter's Daughter, is available in Weed.
For some reason, this Weed - CD Baby deal is completely below the notice of the media. I think it's the biggest deal in OMD since MP3.com went public, but the media doesn't get it. Anyone see anything about it here on/. ? What's up with that? CD Baby gives that needed catalog of 100,000+ files. As a whole, CD Baby represents 230,000 songs, but it remains to be seen how many will opt in.
With Weed files, there's actual potential for income for everyone... musician, distributors, and even fans! The better each does their job, the more everyone will make. Music becomes a capital investment. it makes new business models of music possible. Now is the time to get involved.
I think you are right that most people don't mind paying when they think the money is going to the musician, if they like the music. But running a site for accused criminals to make voluntary donations to the companies that lobbied to put those laws on the books might have its drawbacks.
Or wait, you intended to bypass the record companies and give money directly to musicians. Yes, there may be some litigation.
But there is a system that comes close. Check Weed.
I concur with all of the things said about what makes Farscape so insightful, and realistic as it is incredibly alien and familiar at the same time. I'll add the deliberate humanity of the stories, many of the arc storylines had to do with family, and pretty painful family relationships they are. Then even in the tensest moments, some very clever, funny stuff.
It is just damn good work. There are certain episodes that you can easily see over and over again, like your favorite Beatles song...I'd say Farscape has a better percentage over its 4 seasons than X-Files, ST NG, Lexx (though that's an entirely different aesthetic),... and the peak moments of Farscape are outstanding. If you have a chance to pick which episodes to see the best the series has to offer Go for the last 2 episodes of season 3. You won't immediately get all of the subtext, but it will hold together as the simple story of needing to blow up the bad buys, and having... well, very little with which to do it. And in the space opera vs Sci-fi, there is no way to simply shift this plot to another genre, yet it smacks of relevance back here on earth. I mean, the big bad guys call themselves "Peacekeepers" for gosh sakes. Seeing scorpius, on the stairway with water pouring over it...a startling image if you know nothing else, and as it comes into perspective what it means, how much had happened to get there...you see another perspective on the human experience.
The fun part is that the meaning of this episode will grow and grow as you see more of the series. I also came into the series in the middle, and was compelled to keep watching, until I was sure I had them all. If you have nothing else doing, you can start at the beginning, if you're sold that it's worth it, but I see no harm in see how good it gets.
To have a villian like Scorpius so complex, tragic, interesting, almost sympathetic, (which is really explored in season 4) sets Farscape apart from a lot of hack TV Sci fi. And I think the acting is excellent. These people look to me they beleve what's going on. They are On a living Ship. I can see it.
The fun part is that the meaning of this episode will grow and grow as you see more of the series. I also came into the series in the middle, and was compelled to keep watching, until I was sure I had them all. If you have nothing else doing, you can start at the beginning, if you're sold that it's worth it, but I see no harm in see how good it gets.
To be specific, the second and 3rd season climaxes were excellent battles. Especially the desctruction of Scorpius' command carrier...what an epic moment. Talk about up close and personal. A suicide bombing, no less. Krais (sp?) and Talon (Moya the living ship's child) Starburst inside the hanger the command carrier. As complex and fascinating as any B5 plotline, and deeply emotional, the meaning of the actions, even as the ship is blowing apart. (which takes a lot of time in the show) Many sub-plots of the various characters towards resolution and transformation...up to John Chriton practically offering Scorpius a ride. Of course it turns out he didn't need one after all...
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With Weed, musicians always get to set the price of the song (usually about a dollar, of course) and get 50% from every sale. Weed publishers Shared Media Licensing, Inc gets just 15%. 35% goes to the people buying then sharing the music. (20%, 10%, then 5% commissions) And sites like ShareNewYork.com make it very easy to buy Weed files, upload them, and review why it's and great song, why you chose it. Whatever the cost of the song, if 5 people buy it, the song has paid for itself. It's also a great place to look for new songs, because most songs are posted with a few words from a fan.
Weed files are legal to share, and will play 3 times for free (on Windows Machines. Macophiles, I feel your pain) They are ideal for new musicians, since it is usually free to get your music in this format, and the music must be original. Now that CD Baby has endorsed Weed, 65,000+ musicians can convert their files by oping in to Weed as part of digital distribution, again for free.
Oh, and Heart's new Album, Jupiter's Daughter, is available in Weed.
For some reason, this Weed - CD Baby deal is completely below the notice of the media. I think it's the biggest deal in OMD since MP3.com went public, but the media doesn't get it. Anyone see anything about it here on /. ? What's up with that? CD Baby gives that needed catalog of 100,000+ files. As a whole, CD Baby represents 230,000 songs, but it remains to be seen how many will opt in.
With Weed files, there's actual potential for income for everyone ... musician, distributors, and even fans! The better each does their job, the more everyone will make. Music becomes a capital investment. it makes new business models of music possible. Now is the time to get involved.
Or wait, you intended to bypass the record companies and give money directly to musicians. Yes, there may be some litigation.
But there is a system that comes close. Check Weed.
I concur with all of the things said about what makes Farscape so insightful, and realistic as it is incredibly alien and familiar at the same time. I'll add the deliberate humanity of the stories, many of the arc storylines had to do with family, and pretty painful family relationships they are. Then even in the tensest moments, some very clever, funny stuff.
... and the peak moments of Farscape are outstanding. If you have a chance to pick which episodes to see the best the series has to offer Go for the last 2 episodes of season 3. You won't immediately get all of the subtext, but it will hold together as the simple story of needing to blow up the bad buys, and having ... well, very little with which to do it. And in the space opera vs Sci-fi, there is no way to simply shift this plot to another genre, yet it smacks of relevance back here on earth. I mean, the big bad guys call themselves "Peacekeepers" for gosh sakes. Seeing scorpius, on the stairway with water pouring over it...a startling image if you know nothing else, and as it comes into perspective what it means, how much had happened to get there...you see another perspective on the human experience.
It is just damn good work. There are certain episodes that you can easily see over and over again, like your favorite Beatles song...I'd say Farscape has a better percentage over its 4 seasons than X-Files, ST NG, Lexx (though that's an entirely different aesthetic),
The fun part is that the meaning of this episode will grow and grow as you see more of the series. I also came into the series in the middle, and was compelled to keep watching, until I was sure I had them all. If you have nothing else doing, you can start at the beginning, if you're sold that it's worth it, but I see no harm in see how good it gets.
To have a villian like Scorpius so complex, tragic, interesting, almost sympathetic, (which is really explored in season 4) sets Farscape apart from a lot of hack TV Sci fi. And I think the acting is excellent. These people look to me they beleve what's going on. They are On a living Ship. I can see it.
The fun part is that the meaning of this episode will grow and grow as you see more of the series. I also came into the series in the middle, and was compelled to keep watching, until I was sure I had them all. If you have nothing else doing, you can start at the beginning, if you're sold that it's worth it, but I see no harm in see how good it gets.
YES, Thank you, someone with a Farscape plug.
To be specific, the second and 3rd season climaxes were excellent battles. Especially the desctruction of Scorpius' command carrier...what an epic moment. Talk about up close and personal. A suicide bombing, no less. Krais (sp?) and Talon (Moya the living ship's child) Starburst inside the hanger the command carrier. As complex and fascinating as any B5 plotline, and deeply emotional, the meaning of the actions, even as the ship is blowing apart. (which takes a lot of time in the show) Many sub-plots of the various characters towards resolution and transformation...up to John Chriton practically offering Scorpius a ride. Of course it turns out he didn't need one after all...
Pretty gutsy production, if you ask me.