Ripped: How the Wired Generation Revolutionized Music
Is the wage-earning career musician headed for extinction? Probably not. But with an estimated 95 percent of music downloads illegally pirated, it鈥檚 getting scary out there. Computers, once thought to be nifty tools for calculating and storing information, have evolved, and they鈥檙e changing the music profession at light-speed.
Pandora鈥檚 ibox is irreparably open, and the music industry is scrambling to get a grip on the new reality. And just what is this new reality? P2P? Mash-ups? Pitchfork? IP rights? BitTorrent? Got all that? If not, music critic/journalist Greg Kot helps decipher the jargon and update us on the state of pop music in his insightful new book Ripped: How the Wired Generation Revolutionized Music.
To the casual observer, the debate surrounding downloaded music appears simple. Do we stand with the record industry鈥檚 efforts to quash illegal downloading, or do we believe that our culture is better served by eliminating copyright restrictions on recorded music? With the recent conviction of the owners of Pirate Bay (the world鈥檚 largest website for illegally downloading music, movies, and software) the debate has been re-energized, and the invective heating up.
Some point to the conviction as evidence that the record companies are winning. Others argue that their 鈥渨hack-a-mole鈥� approach of shutting down illegal sites is futile, and that the industry鈥檚 heavy hand is turning off consumers.
Yet amid all the hubbub, 鈥淩ipped鈥� reveals a third stream may be emerging. Through illuminating interviews with music鈥檚 movers and shakers, Kot details the way the entire pop milieu is evolving, with new ways of making, distributing, and profiting from music. The dust has far from settled, and recording artists are still smarting from the one-two punch of illegal downloads and聽 a soft economy. But with 鈥淩ipped,鈥� Kot broadens the discussion and expands our grasp of the issue, providing hope that the future may yet benefit both listener and musician.
It didn鈥檛 help that the record industry shot itself in the foot just as the computer revolution was under way. Kot sadly explains how industry consolidation led to an overemphasis of the bottom line, disturbing the delicate balance between art and commerce that a label has to maintain to be successful. Record companies abandoned their practice of patiently nurturing a musician鈥檚 career, investing instead in pop acts with less talent and even less staying power. Success could be momentarily impressive. But the quick flame-out of artists such as Ricky Martin or the Backstreet Boys made for few lifelong fans and less profit in the long term.
It also had another effect. Fed up with superficial stars and excessive CD prices, young people began to look for music that they could connect with 鈥� and they found it on the Web. Case in point, Death Cab for Cutie. Kot鈥檚 take on the band鈥檚 fan-driven, Internet-up success is an inspired example of how an act can launch itself without the money and machinery of a big record label.
Led by Ben Gibbard, a genuinely talented singer-songwriter, Death Cab struck a chord. 鈥淕ibbard鈥檚 modest songs didn鈥檛 rock, either,鈥� writes Kot, 鈥渂ut they turned melancholy into a powerful muse. The first ones were preoccupied with what might鈥檝e been, tucked inside a tangle of guitars and sometimes cloaked in reverb, like a fog rolling in from the Pacific on a drizzly afternoon. At their best, they honed in on emotional specifics....鈥�
Young fans loved those 鈥渆motional specifics鈥� and began sharing Death Cab鈥檚 early indie recordings online, the band unaware at first of what was transpiring. 鈥淚t seemed like magic,鈥� bassist Nick Harmer is quoted as saying. 鈥淭his thing was happening around us that we couldn鈥檛 really control ... but that鈥檚 how people were finding out about the band....鈥� In spite of their Internet-driven triumph, Death Cab for Cutie would eventually sign with Atlantic Records, confident that a large corporate label would bolster their success.
Rock star Trent Reznor might beg to differ. Fast becoming a poster child for the 鈥渕usic should be free鈥� crowd, Reznor and his band, Nine Inch Nails, left their record label and now urge fans to download albums free of charge from their website. Kot鈥檚 telling of Reznor鈥檚 journey from record company minion to self-sufficient artist is thorough and thrilling. With a brilliant mix of online contests, cyber-clues, fan participation, and additional products for sale (a limited-edition box set alone grossed the band $750,000 in a day), Reznor has truly beaten the record labels at their own game.
Still, if this is to be the new model, many musicians might find it dispiriting to think that getting heard may now depend on playing hide and seek with sound files or deciphering secret clues 脿 la Harry Potter. It doesn鈥檛 hurt that Nine Inch Nails fans exhibit a tribal-like allegiance and delight in Trent Reznor鈥檚 arcane promotions, but that鈥檚 unlikely to be the case with every artist鈥檚 fan base.
鈥淩ipped鈥� doesn鈥檛 propose a grand solution to the problems brought on by illegal downloading, but it鈥檚 the best kind of journalism, even-tempered and provocative, factual and soulful. And if you鈥檙e on the mature side of 40, reading Kot鈥檚 intriguing tales of newer bands such as Death Cab for Cutie, Arcade Fire, and Bright Eyes may even inspire you to download some new music. (Legally of course!)
Lorne Entress is a music producer and drummer living in Hartford, Conn.
Further Web viewing:
Greg Kot 鈥� www.gregkot.com <http://www.gregkot.com/>
Recording Industry Association of American 鈥� www.riaa.com <http://www.riaa.com/>
Death Cab for Cutie 鈥� www.deathcabforcutie.com <http://www.deathcabforcutie.com/>
Nine Inch Nails 鈥撀� www.nin.com <http://www.nin.com/>
Michael Masnick, The Trent Reznor Case Study 鈥撀� www.youtube.com/watch?v=Njuo1puB1lg <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Njuo1puB1lg>
