4 Years Ago (2017)

I reckon Copyright is a Ponzi scheme and they are using the law to protect it.

Copyright terms are ridiculous.

All of the songs from “Hardwired To Self Destruct” will be in the public domain by 2120 (approx. based on the current terms of life of the creator plus an additional 70 years after death).

Led Zeppelin’s “IV” will be in the public domain by 2110 (approx.).

The crazy thing is the 10 year difference of the estimated public domain date between Metallica and Led Zeppelin, however the albums have a 40 years difference between release dates.

Proof of how much Copyright was hijacked by corporations during the 70s. And while the executives take it in, the artists are left with nothing.

Because the music business has a payment problem.

Artists are constantly fighting to get paid properly.

Promoters don’t pay on time or they don’t pay what is promised. The labels get creative with their accounting and underpay the artists. Then trusted people like managers skim too much and people who didn’t create anything of value are flying private while the artists who created something of value are traveling by road or flying second class.

I was listening to some thrash music and wrote about my fandom of Megadeth and the the year 1986.

In Australia, we have a lobbyist for the MPAA called Graham Burke, who is so good at spinning the piracy argument that politicians believe him.

Burke and his organization “Village Roadshow” are meant to lead the movie business into the new age. But they think by denying that the new age exists they will get back to the old age.

And I was pissed at the broadband rollout in my area because I lost internet access for my whole family for three plus months. But according to Burke, we are all filthy pirates.

8 Years Ago (2013)

I was listening to a lot of Motley Crue and Sixx AM so a Nikki Sixx “What Do Ya Mean I Don’t Write Good Lyrics” appreciation post was written.

I’m no puppet
I engrave my veins with style ….from Dancing On Glass

I was on Team Sambora when Jon Bon Jovi said that if Sambora was The Edge he would be harder to replace. It was a cheap shot from Jon. And since 2013 was the year I experimented with some douchebag posts, you can read one here about Jon. I did others as well.

And the anemic sales figures of artists kept getting publicity, but no one cared about sales anymore except the ones who wanted bragging rights.

I compared 1993 and 2013. From long haired stoner boy to short hair corporate guy. A slave to the grind I had become. And here is its sequel.

Music has been my companion my whole life. And I thought about that while I was watching Australia qualify for a World Cup.

At the end of a football game, music is always played. On the trip home, music is played again via the radio or a playlist or a CD mix. It’s always in my life.

I was surprised that people haven’t heard of Kim Dotcom or MegaUpload.

Kim Dotcom has been painted as a money laundering criminal by the FBI on evidence gathered by the MPAA and somehow he was that dangerous that his arrest needed SWAT teams to break down his door and arrest him in the early hours.

All because he ran a cyber locker that people used to share songs and albums through.

We are exposed to news 24/7. If any musician/artist wants to survive the times, they need to be creating news every day. Because what’s trending today is over tomorrow.

Nintendo designer Shigeru Miyamoto said that Nintendo wants “to create a game that people will want to keep and keep playing for a long time.”

Sort of like our favorite artists and their best works.

I like hard rock. I cannot escape it. And I came across a band called Angeline and their “Life: Volume 1”, EP. They are from Sweden and formed in 1987.

Initially the band was influenced by Bon Jovi, Europe, Iron Maiden and Queensryche.

When the music scene changed in the 90s they reverted to being a cover band. It’s not all about the glamour and the fame. There are highs and lows. Artists do what they need to do to survive.