I haven't as yet made up my mind on the many issues IMRO has presented music blogger with their interfering!
Other blogs/sites have done wonderful jobs explaining the situation:
Nialler9: http://www.nialler9.com/2010/04/28/music-blogger-imro-licence
On The Record: http://www.irishtimes.com/blogs/ontherecord/2010/04/28/this-music-blogger-imro-licence-thing/
The Gaurdian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010/apr/29/irish-music-blogs-under-attack
Hot Press: http://www.hotpress.com/news/6494389.html?page_no=1&show_comments=1
Firstly I have to commend Nialler for fighting the fight. The easy option would have been to pay the cash and look the other way. He is being honest and true to himself by questioning the validity of IMROs stance which effectively aims to change the role of music blogs forever.
Secondly I'm not too sure where I stand. This is my hobby and the 'payment' I receive is promotional music and the odd guest list spot. No money changes hand ever. 2uibestow is not registered anywhere. I'm not out of principal paying any license and I'd be distraught if I have to give up my hobby.
I'm going to keep the blog running for the time being but as of Monday night at midnight all downloadable mp3s from the site will expire. If you're an artist visiting my site and want you're music featured my advice is to open a soundcloud, reverbnation or bandcamp account so I can feature your music.
A special word goes to Kevin over at Mp3hugger which is one of my favourite places on the net! I genuinely felt a little sad reading this:
http://mp3hugger.com/2010/04/empire-strikes-back.html
Finally if IMRO is representing you there's a petition here: https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dEQzcmRLVHpiNk45TE01Rnl4MzJjSmc6MQ
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6 comments:
And it made me a little sad that I made you sad on reading that. I've absolutely no intention of throwing in the towel. Nothing's changed except the frequency of my backups. Thanks for being so nice.
Its all a big mess, but did we really suspect anything less? It's one thing signing a deal with YouTube, but taxing bloggers like yourself (and it really is a kind of tax) who are so clearly not in it for the money is just stupid. What a mess
Is the issue for IMRO that the are blogs "hosting" the mp3s on their server for playback versus embedding a player on the blog whose source is from another website like Soundcloud, YouTube or even the artist themselves?
I disagree with IMRO going after blogger full stop, but if they do make this distinction, it seems there is a possible solution for both the bloogers and the artist to continue what they are doing albeit with requiring that the artist's music must be sourced somewhere other than the blogger site.
Considering the importance of what music bloggers do for the artists and the industry as a whole and since there is no cost for the artist to use SoundCloud or YouTube, would that not be a possible solution?
Kevin, I think it was your poetic wording on the issue as well as the thought that after checking in on your site for almost 5 years that it would have a closing down sign and it gave me :(
.... Nick there is no real logic here ... bands that nialler, mp3hugger, etc who are given exposure through the free gift of a song will find it a bit more difficult to reach new people
.... Anon, yeah when I review someone or an album I'll have to use youtube, soundcloud, bandcamp etc but I've had years of downloading sample mp3s from blogs sticking them onto my mp3player, nodding in agreement to the bloggers recommendation then either buying the album in road or freebird or online. Was there anything really wrong with that process?
It's an awful fiasco in my opinion. A shameless attack on (in many cases) those who have no real power to fight back. I have written my piece here: http://bullblacknova.blogspot.com/2010/04/my-feelings-on-imro-gate.html and hope that some may take the time to have a quick read through it.
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