Is file-sharing good or bad?

Since the emergence of file-sharing websites there have been arguments supporting and condemning them. Although there are definitely some negative issues regarding file-sharing, such as employees within the industry receiving less money for their work, I'd say as a whole, file-sharing is much better than some people make it out to be.

The most common method for buying music nowadays is downloading it. People can browse through a whole range of music without having to move from their seat. Free music can be beneficial to everyone in different ways. For a start it gives musicians the opportunity to absorb as many influences as possible to enhance their creative output without having to spend anything. It also allows unreleased music to be accessed and appreciated by many, albeit from a lower quality recording.

The possibility to receive the whole discography of an artist within a few minutes seems preferable to giving money to large corporations. It also gives less well known artists, who earn small amounts anyway, a chance to promote their music across the world. People who have the chance to listen to all their music are then more likely to attend their concerts. Those who wouldn't be willing to spend money on music, due to fear of disappointment or generally just loss of money, still get the chance to listen. If they are impressed then they will inevitably tell others about it, which increases awareness for emerging musicians.

Companies such as iTunes don't technically give you any possessions from downloads. They let you "borrow" music and give you a strict set of parameters on how you are legally allowed to use it. As stated in the terms and conditions of iTunes:

"iTunes is the provider of the Service, which permits you to access, purchase or rent a licence for digital content ("iTunes Products") for end user use only under the terms and conditions set forth in this Agreement."

The fact that they are selling you a licence rather than an actual copy seems a bit hypocritical when they are against file-sharing. If you actually want the copy of a song or an album as your own, the alternative they leave is to download it for free. They know that the average person is unwilling to spend time to read the length of their terms and conditions so the majority of people who purchase anything from the iTunes store are unlikely to read this section. This leaves the consumer in a vulnerable position if they are unaware of their illegal actions.

Not only do iTunes manipulate their customers into spending a fixed amount of money for a limited product, of which they take a large portion, but according to Pete Townshend of The Who they also give the artists they are promoting minimal support. Below is his speech from 2011 at the BBC John Peel Lecture.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-15528101


Although I agree with file-sharing being positive, there are also some downsides to it. Free file-sharing websites are illegal and therefore aren't thoroughly monitored for malware. I don't illegally download any music for this reason. The links on these websites are untrustworthy and could contain viruses that can be downloaded straight onto a computer. However, if these websites were to be legitimised then file uploads could be regulated by law and the optimum quality recordings could be released for free.

Most of the music I listen to is at home on free streaming websites such as YouTube. I also have a free account on Spotify. As music is my main hobby and hopefully future profession, access to both of these and other streaming websites is ideal. If I do buy a physical copy of music then it is usually from a second hand store which means that none of the money I spend there reaches the artists I listen to. Although I would like to support artists that I like and I do occasionally buy music via their websites I am usually hesitant because I know most of the money I spend goes to the record companies. I am in no way implying that these people don't deserve this money but I disagree with paying more money to a company who pay the original creator of a song next to nothing. Similar to most people in my age group, it is rare that I need to purchase music as I have the use of YouTube on my phone wherever I go.

A technique for selling music which I think may be adopted by more people in the future is to allow the consumer to name their own price. An example of a band who used this technique is Radiohead. Radiohead released a download of their 2007 album "In Rainbows" on their website where anybody could pay whatever they wanted for it before the physical version was released. According to NME the money generated solely by this download, before the physical release, was higher than the total profit from their previous album "Hail To The Thief."

http://www.nme.com/news/radiohead/40444

Obviously this might not work as well for less well-known artists but the idea still has potential benefits. The age groups most likely to download music online are teenagers and young adults. If they are aware that they can download a new release on an artist's official website then they are much more likely to use that than an unreliable torrent website. I would imagine most people would download the new release for free, however some may feel morally obliged to spend at least a couple of pounds. Others may be willing to spend a lot more on an artist they respect or give a chance to emerging artists. This means the consumer knows that they aren't required to pay a fixed amount on iTunes or Amazon for example and more money will reach the artist. 

Some people might argue that downloading music online from file-sharing websites is similar to theft although what they are actually obtaining from it is data. The artist doesn't actually lose any physical property as the data can be duplicated as many times as they want. Profit may seem to diminish if music is downloaded for free however studies show that those who download the most music for free also spend the most money on music. I know people who download music for free as a test to see if they like the music. If they like it then they go ahead and purchase it from elsewhere. If they dislike it they delete it from their computer, causing no loss to anybody. File-sharing sites can therefore be used as a "try before you buy" system, which could potentially boost sales.

In regards to my own future within music, I will try to embrace file-sharing positively. Rather than thinking of it as loss of money I will think of it as free advertising and look for better ways to generate income using file-sharing to my advantage. 

Venue Reviews

Olivers

Olivers bar, or "Ollies" as it's more widely known across Malvern, is located right at the top of Malvern town. It is a good location to attract an audience in Malvern as it is one of the few bars that gets visited regularly by all age groups. Having visited the bar a number of times myself, I can easily say it's one of the more popular places to go to on a night out in Malvern.

I recently watched a covers band, "The Undercovers," perform in there on a Friday night. They performed popular songs such as "Highway to Hell" by AC/DC, "Take Me Out" by Franz Ferdinand and "When The Sun Goes Down" by Arctic Monkeys. This style of music seemed to get the crowd involved towards the end, which must mean it's an appropriate style of music to perform in there. This is fairly similar to the songs I'm preparing with my current band, so it's definitely a possible venue to perform at.

At the start of the gig, the band were having a hard time getting people involved, which I initially thought was because they left such a large gap between them and the audience. I later realised when a couple got up and started dancing that this large gap was the dancefloor. (Although not very obvious to those who don't regularly visit a music night at the bar.) The dancefloor and the band performance area are pretty much the same thing, up on a slightly raised area from the rest of the room. This brings forth some potential problems that I did actually see happen during the performance. 

Anybody can easily interfere and walk right up to the band members. At one point in the night a man walked right up to the lead vocalist's microphone and joined in singing a song. None of the staff were aware that this was happening so nobody attempted to stop him. He only left when the song finished.

Once enough people got onto the dancefloor, the band could no longer be seen by anybody further back in the room. (With the help of the three pillars spread across the front of the dancefloor blocking the view even more.) The band then had much less space to move about than earlier on. The guitarist, who was on the left hand side of the performance area, already had a pillar blocking much of his space. After everybody arrived on the dancefloor he was left with an even smaller area to perform in. This could also lead to people spilling drinks on equipment as there is no barrier.

Olivers is a fairly small bar so the speaker system didn't need to be that powerful. The amplifiers and PA systems easily managed to reach the back of the room without needing to be too loud, with the band facing most of the bar. The smoking area and the small seating area next to it are the only areas in Olivers that don't have speakers pointing towards them. Whoever set up the sound levels got the volume spot on in my opinion. The band's music was easily heard by everyone but it was still fairly easy to have a conversation.

The main age group that seemed to be getting involved were between 18 and 30. Bar entry is 18 and over. The capacity is somewhere between 100-150 people. The room was very nearly full towards the end of the night and most people were getting involved. The only night where this would possibly be filled up would be a Friday night in Malvern.

Olivers doesn't serve food but there are alternatives in the surrounding area including takeaways and pubs.

I asked a staff member how much a band would be paid and she said £160 for a few hours for the four piece band. The band had to supply most of the equipment. (In this case a Marshall stack, a Yamaha PA system, a drum kit etc.) The bar provided the lighting themselves. However, these were just some basic stationary colour filter lights projected onto the band and the dancefloor. I would be inclined to use some better lighting equipment for putting on a better performance. However, Olivers is primarily a bar rather than a music venue and it probably wouldn't be appropriate or necessary to use much bigger lighting systems.

I saw the band unloading their gear from their van before the gig began. They had parked directly outside the front door of the bar and set everything up themselves. I assume this means they left their van outside during the performance. This would be ideal for a band, although it was lucky for them that they managed to get a space to park. There is minimal parking space outside the bar as it is usually occupied by residents living in flats surrounding the area. If I were to perform there myself it would be well worth negotiating a space beforehand and arriving early in order to ensure minimal effort and minimal cost. (This spot being the only free public parking close enough.) Audience members would need to find another place to park if they arrived by car. There are some places to park nearby although they would need to pay. This probably wouldn't be a problem for most people as many of the people who visit Olivers live nearby in Malvern.

The bar is easy to contact via their website, www.oliversmalvern.co.uk. On the site they provide their phone number, Facebook and Twitter pages and directions to the venue. The main promotion technique I would say is word of mouth. Because the bar is popular amongst so many people living in Malvern, it isn't difficult to find out what's going on there. They also promote their events on Facebook, Twitter and inside Olivers on a TV screen behind the bar.

As it's a local bar to me and I wouldn't have to pay much for transport myself, I think this venue would be well worth performing at. I would probably aim to perform as late in the night as possible in this bar because everybody seems to stay right up until closing time, when everybody has already arrived. It also means that everybody has had a chance to have a few drinks and are much more likely to get involved. The best night to perform in this bar would be a Friday night, as this is the night when most people will be there. 

The Great Malvern Hotel

The Great Malvern Hotel hosts an open mic night every Tuesday. Although this wouldn't be a paid performance, it would still be worth doing for the experience of playing in front of an audience.

This open mic night is a popular event in Malvern and is situated in an ideal place. It is right in the centre of town where many people are likely to be passing by. The age of people who attend is anybody over 18 years old. As it is an open mic night and not just one specific gig, there would be music for all kinds of people. There wouldn't be much need to promote the performance.

The hotel has a friendly, lively atmosphere on the open mic nights so there would be many people watching the performances. However the main performance room does get overcrowded during the night, with a capacity of about 50-60 people. Gear would have to be brought in ideally before people start arriving as it would be impossible to bring it all in later without everybody leaving the room. 

Although the performance area is fairly small there is still room for a drum kit, however this would not be provided by the hotel and would need to be brought along. The performance would need to be arranged beforehand, so using somebody else's drum kit that is already there would be a possibility. 

Accommodation and transport would not be a problem for me as I already live at walking distance from the hotel. I would be able to walk to and from the event carrying my guitar and other equipment with ease.

Eating would not be a problem as there are many choices for food just over the road, including a chip shop and a pizzeria.

There is plenty of parking space outside and near the hotel so if I were to arrive by car, there should be no problem finding a space to park if I arrived early. Audience members could also find parking spaces easily as there is an even bigger car park a few metres down the road. 

Room 310 - Kidderminster College

Having performed in this room myself I can say that the equipment isn't fantastic. The Laney guitar amplifiers are unreliable and the tones produced from them, both clean and distorted, don't sound that great. For example, the input in what I would consider to be the best amplifier in the room is constantly breaking no matter how many times somebody attempts to fix it. I've also heard comments from both drummers in my class that the drum kit isn't good either. Equipment from another room in the college or from home would be preferable in a performance situation. On the other hand, there is plenty of performance space and that space could even be extended if it was needed as there is no raised stage.

The room holds an audience capacity of roughly 40-50 people, which could easily be filled up by putting posters up around college to attract students to a performance. With a room of this size, music can easily be heard right at the back, with the PA system and amplifiers pointing at everyone. There are no areas in the room where the view or sound is blocked by obstacles.

If I was arriving from home then it wouldn't be difficult to walk from the station with all my gear as it is just a 10 minute walk. However, if a drummer was bringing a kit with them then they would need to arrange a lift. There would most likely be a place to park outside the college but if not then there definitely would be one nearby.

The Plagiarists - Band members and song choices

The Plagiarists - Me on guitar, George on bass, Brad on drums.

In our trio our initial idea is to cover famous songs in our own style. As a group we have decided to choose songs with recognisable hooks. We will most likely alter the structure in each song completely but keep the hooks intact.

My song choices:
Gorillaz - "Feel Good Inc." - I have chosen this song because I feel there are many aspects of the song to experiment with. I think this song could be quite easily adapted to fit different styles.

I would say the most notable feature of the song is the bassline that repeats throughout the verses, so as long as this remains audible in our version then the rest of the song could develop into something completely different.

Hopefully this will provide a challenge for all three of us and allow us to create something original that still remains under the title of a "cover." The biggest challenge with this song will be the creative side. The bassline isn't particularly complex or difficult to remember but it could easily become repetitive if it doesn't progress.

The original version of the song includes a singer and rappers so the instrument parts don't necessarily need to advance much structurally. We don't have a vocalist in our group so we will need to introduce new ideas regularly throughout the song.

"Feel Good Inc." - Gorillaz

The Coral - "Dreaming Of You" - The reason I chose this song is mainly because of the hook. Similar to "Feel Good Inc." I would say that the bassline is the most prominent feature of the song. At the moment I intend to play the vocal line on guitar to make it more recognisable for the audience. I might choose to slow it down as well and I will introduce some new ideas to make it differ from the original.

I will probably include a guitar solo as a structural addition to keep the audience listening. The beginning of the solo in the original song follows the vocal line fairly closely. As I will already be playing this melody throughout the song I will need to alter this completely. I may write a basic outline for my own solo and improvise when it comes to performance or I may just write out a whole solo.

I don't think this song will be too difficult for me or either of the other members to play, which will allow us to spend more time thinking creatively rather than learning complicated parts.

"Dreaming Of You" - The Coral

George's song choices:

"Jerk It Out" - The Caesars

"Young Folks" - Peter, Bjorn & John

Brad's song choice:

"Mr Clean" - Marcus Miller

With these choices I think we have the potential to create a well balanced mix of relaxed and upbeat songs. By combining the two, hopefully the audience will stay interested until the end. We will also need to think about which order we perform the songs, possibly leaving the most energetic one until the end.

I think each of us will bring something beneficial to the group and we all have areas where we may need to improve during rehearsals.

George seems willing to try new ideas and is enthusiastic about creating original music. Although he may not have the ability to play more complex basslines, I am sure he will be able to make creative decisions and ensure the maximum amount of effort is put into each song.

Brad seems to be a very capable drummer, able to play various styles, so he will be a good member during rehearsals and performances. On first impressions, the area I think he could improve on is articulating his ideas. This would save time in rehearsals. His choice of song, in my opinion, is a good one. It will add a bit of variety to the set, therefore appealing to a wider audience.

I am enthusiastic about writing this kind of music but if I don't put enough thought into it I may end up repeating guitar licks. I have noticed that in my playing I tend to repeat phrases in one area of the neck as a safe option rather than experimenting across the fretboard. This may become boring for the listener if I let it affect the songs. However, if we all contribute creatively to each song then this shouldn't be a problem.

We are all currently listening to different styles of music and we all prefer certain styles to others. However, we have all discovered similarities between our tastes and we should be able to compromise in order to enjoy everything we play. We will need to communicate effectively during rehearsals in order to make these decisions.




Since the initial choice of songs, I have changed my mind on "Dreaming Of You" by The Coral. I think the song might be too difficult to alter into a completely new style without vocals as they are an important and recognisable part of the original song. After hearing George playing a bassline, I adapted it into a new song and realised that one of the riffs sounded similar to "Enter Sandman" by Metallica. Following the theme of song covers in new styles, I have decided that this should be my second song choice rather than "Dreaming Of You" 

"Enter Sandman" - Metallica