a2f2a

Hi all: This is long-winded,  so please accept my apologies in advance.

a2f2a.com  is here and now, and it’s most definitely happening.

But it isn’t entrepreneurial. Rather, it’s a genuinely collaborative effort to break through the wall of insanity the corporate record labels have erected in their efforts to gain total control of how music is distributed, and by whom, online. And a lot of work has gone into putting this site together, and is still going into it.

Chris Ovenden over in the UK did 85% of the coding — building the engine, as it were. He’s a musician and a writer, and the father of two young boys, who supports himself as a programmer. And I know for a fact he isn’t rolling in money.

He isn’t, however, getting paid for all the time and effort he’s putting into a2f2a.

Devil’s Advocate plays keyboard, and he’s a graphic artist. He’ll be boiling down the posts in the different categories so we can see where we’re going. That’ll be a lot of labour.

But he isn’t being paid for it and right now, he isn’t working.

Billy has put his credibility, his money (he’s forking out for a2f2a’s hosting) and lot of time into this — just check out the number of Bragg responses to comment posts. And I know more than one pro artist of his acquaintance think he’s totally crazy for getting involved with a2f2a.

But he’s doing it, and he’s the first high-profile artist that I know of who’s been willing to go to these kinds of lengths because he truly believes we’re all part of the same mix, and we if don’t help each other to straighten things out, no one else will.

My day job, so to speak, is running p2pnet.net, a digital media advocacy and news site I founded. The ads on the site, plus regular donations from an anonymous sponsor, are my sole source of income and every month I wonder if I’m going to make it through to the next month. It’s been like this for nine years and I feel like public radio without the fund raisers.

I’m also a musician and at one point in my life, I was involved with a band which supplied a substantial part of my then income. So I know what it’s like to be on the road at night, and holding down a job during the daytime.

I’m not getting paid either, and with a2f2a, my daily workload has increased by at least 25%.

a2f2a is a commitment, and a huge one. I wouldn’t be doing it if I didn’t believe in it, and I know the same goes for Billy, Chris and DA, and 99.9% of the people who’ve registered and who contribute with their thoughts and suggestions.

For myself, I may not be getting paid, but a2f2a (and p2pnet, for that matter) are giving me something that’s worth more than money: the satisfaction of being intimately involved in a initiative which really is an initiative, and which stands an excellent chance of making a powerful, and positive, difference to a lot of people at a time when the powers-that-used-to-be are doing their utmost to make life miserable for everyone.

Sometimes, we do things because they need to be done — to make them happen. And a2f2a is happening.

Are you listening Artists? Are you listening Recording Companies?

Billy Bragg isn’t the only famous artists who’s contributing to a2f2a. Jack Ely, the voice on Louie Louie which is, without any shadow of a doubt, one of the most famous classic rock ‘n’ roll records of all time, was the second to come on board.

He said this a few days back, and I make no apologies for repeating it >>>

Blah, blah, blah, complain, complain, complain! This is all the fan hears these days from the artists and recording companies. They are really starting to sound like a broken record, pardon the pun. Their complaining has become so constant in the ears of the fans that it is now just a big YAWN!

Can’t anyone just shut those greedy bastards up? They can’t stop file sharing so why don’t they just stop trying? And the biggy….Who cares!

Let’s face it people, file sharing is here to stay. There is nothing anyone can do about it. It is just a fact of life. The more the government tries to get involved, the sillier they look. In fact, if a file sharing entity is really aggressive about their company and they get shut down by the U.S. government, they can just license someone in China or Iran to run their site and tell the U.S. where to get off.

Are you listening Artists? Are you listening Recording Companies?

There is not one single thing you or anyone else can do to stop file sharing from the internet other than shut down the internet all together.

So, get it through your thick skulls, file sharing can’t be stopped, period. There is an idiom from many decades ago and it still rings true today. If you can’t fight them, join them.

Now that you’ve got that straight, what can be done about it to make everything fair for the artists and recording companies? Plenty. I would be remiss if I presented a problem and didn’t simultaneously present a solution, so here goes.

We have to get one thing straight first, though. These solutions only apply to artists who don’t have to rely on loops and punch-ins to make them sound good. These solutions apply to artists that can perform great in front of a live audience, because after all, records were originally made in order to preserve the essence of a live recording.

Now let’s get on with solutions. First, the artist and recording company have to agree to a partnership wherein the artist does his/her thing and the recording company becomes primarily a promotion agent. In other words, after the recording is made, the artist agrees to share the profits of his live gigs with the recording company and the recording company agrees to share the profits of music product sales with the artists. Got it people? Artists and Record Companies are now partners, not adversaries. Partners who share and share alike! And that means everything; writing, publishing, costs, everything. Look at it this way. The two really do need each other. A song unrecorded is just sitting there not making anyone a cent. An artist, just playing in his/her bedroom and occasionally playing a club, isn’t promoting their songs to very many people and won’t get known very easily or quickly that way. Your friends can only buy your song so many times before they get tired of the same ol’, same ol’.

Ok, ok, I’ll get back to the solutions. First, the Record Company might find it advantageous to contact a file sharing entity and run a banner ad on their site for one or more of their artists, thereby promoting those artists’ recordings and attracting people to download and become familiar with them and want to go see them in person. Yes?

Second, Artists and Recording Companies might partner on web sites and share the recordings there themselves, this way eliminating the need for file sharing sites, and becoming able to keep track of the number of hits a particular track gets. This kind of data is very valuable to promotion entities such as Recording Companies. They could then promote a show as having ‘XYZ, the most downloaded artist of the year’ or month or week, etc.

Third, Artists and Recording Companies can partner together on live gigs. I know, I know there are promoters and others involved, but just remember, if it weren’t for the Artists and Recording Companies, there wouldn’t be a gig at a large venue, so those local promoters just need to get over themselves. Also, if you want the biggest bang for your promotion buck you need to include a DJ or two in on the gig promotion. There is nothing, not any kind of advertising, which promotes live gigs faster than ‘buzz,’ and who creates the buzz in a local area? The DJ. So get one from the largest demographic station in the area which plays your genre, and ask him to join your little group. Remember one thing, in fact this should become the mantra for the entire industry, ‘20 PERCENT OF SOMETHING IS FAR GREATER THAN 90 PERCENT OF NOTHING.’ Repeat after me, ‘20 percent of something is far greater than 90 percent of nothing.’ Got it? Good.

One other thing.

Back in the day, I looked at the competition and thought about what I would want if I was going to a show/dance. I realized that the most important thing was to have the largest crowd. I saw that having 300 people show up to something in a 1500 person capacity dance hall wasn’t much fun. So, I started throwing 99 cent dances. Sure enough, those paying $1.25 somewhere else would prefer to come to a .99 dance. Consequently the places were packed, everyone had a wonderful time, and my band became known as the one that had the biggest parties and could draw the most people. What a deal. I realize that those prices seem ridiculous by today’s standard, but the point is that if you give the public a deal, they will come almost every time. They love a deal.

I’m sure there are many other ways you can think of to come up with self enhancing partnerships that will promote your careers. It’s time to start focusing on what can be done instead of whining about file sharing which you can do nothing about. So remember, ‘20 percent of something is far greater than 90 percent of nothing’ and go for it. If you work hard together, don’t succumb to discouragement and are persistent, there is nothing you can’t accomplish, together.

Stay tuned.

Jon Newton