Dreaming of a Free Music Economy

You've no doubt seen the SOPA/PROTECT IP hubbub raging today on the webs, and as a lover of music (nevermind how I procure it) it seems fitting to let my own political ideas vent a bit. SOPA and PIPA both threaten the free flow of information, supposedly to protect the rights of authors, musicians and creators. But the real purpose of these laws is to guarantee big entertainment (RIAA, MPAA, et al) their price point.

As a musician myself I sometimes find it hard to defend piracy; making great albums takes time, energy, expensive equipment and artistic brilliance. And all of the people involved need to eat. But the reality of current technology is that reproducing digital information takes practically no time, no energy, very cheap equipment and minimal brainpower. So how do we reconcile these two seemingly-conflicting facts?

My vision is something like Kickstarter meets Bandcamp: bands post their material, for free or for a donation, and fans can download music and see how much still needs to be donated to the "keep X alive" fund. A quick glance at Last.fm shows that Grizzly Bear has almost 800,000 listeners. That's just Last.fm users. If each of them donated just $1 yearly, each member of the band would be making (see: raking in) $160k per year before expenses. That's executive-type shit. Drake would be making $2 million. There are obviously hidden expenses and overhead to consider, but compared to buying a $15 CD, that's a really cheap way to support your favorite artists.

I firmly believe that music and musicians have value; that's why I go to as many shows as I can, tell friends about bands I like, and buy albums that I love on vinyl. But I also believe that value should be constructed through a voluntary dialogue, and SOPA would stop just that. The media industry has been misdirecting its energy for years by trying to enforce its profits rather than earn them, and has only recently realized the benefits of making their products freely/cheaply available on services like Spotify and Netflix. The internet is a beautiful thing, and it doesn't have to mean poverty for artists (although it might for high-overhead media conglomerates). Let's keep it free.