On AI and music

How do most professional musicians make their money? Teaching or similar activities. Few can make a living solely off being paid to perform. Fewer still can make a living from composition. This has always been the case.

The people who argue most vehemently in favor of copyright aren’t musicians but those who exploit musicians.

The better AI gets at creating music and the more such people turn to exploiting AI instead of musicians…that’s all upside in my book.

Musicians will continue to find ways to fund following their muse as they always have.

Star Wars (Ep4) as argument against adaptions

I’ve often cited Star Wars (Episode IV) as an example for why movies shouldn’t be adaptions. Lucas synthesized myriad influences into a new (yet not new) work that is a better film than all but a few direct adaptions. (And many of the better adaptions wandered far enough afield as to arguably not be adaptations.)

Likewise, I’m not a fan of intellectual property and especially any form of intellectual property that restricts adaptions. The execution means more than the idea. The “owner” of the original idea should have no claim on the execution—the hard work—of others; and the execution shouldn’t be restricted by the “owner” of the original idea.

But Lucas wanted to make a Flash Gordon film. He made Star Wars because he couldn’t get the rights.

So, ironically, my example of why you shouldn’t create an adaptation only exists because of intellection property rights.

sigh

The simple argument against DRM

I don’t know that I’ve ever put it this way before, but it seemed so simple when I did.

Except perhaps in some very specific circumstances, I have not been convinced that anti-piracy measures ever increase sales, much less pay for themselves.

Piracy doesn’t matter; sales do. Any anti-piracy measure has to prove that it is going to generate additional sales to more than make up for its costs.