Music Piracy - Are you buying this??

Quite a few new stories have been poppin up lately about file sharing/music piracy and that has prompted me to start obsessing over this issue again and again.

A long long long time ago I was a heavy user of Napster; back in it’s big bad taboo days and even before I owned an mp3 player. And because I was this strange hybrid of early adaptor geek and former thug princess, I didn't care that I was stickin it to the man cuz quite frankly stealing content by sneaking into the movies, buying bootleg VHS movies and CDs, and downloading songs to my computer was part of the culture I lived in and cherished. I used to make a running joke that if any industry including the government, wanted to test the security of systems or processes, they'd be wise to hire people from the hood as test hackers or rule breakers cuz we could always find a way around obstacles that stand in our way of getting something for nothing.

It wasn’t until a life change occurred, that I started to feel guilty about stealing (notice I didn’t put this word in quotes). Two significant events coincided around the same time:

1. My kids became young adults with burgeoning and unique music tastes.
2. I began friendships with hard working independent artists who were on their grind trying to sell their projects.

So on a morality level, I felt I needed to set an example for the kiddies and support my friends. But on an economic level, I was feeling the pain! My daughter said it plainly when I got my new iPod with 80 gigs (equivalent to 20,000 songs); “Ma, you mean to tell me you’re gonna buy $20,000 worth of music to put on there”? I nodded “yes”, but in my head I was like “What the hell am I gonna do”?

I started looking for music clubs to join like emusic.com, but my searches came up empty most of the time and for some, you had to use their proprietary players. I started to get really fed up and had a back-slide moment and decided to try my hand at Limewire. Somehow I justified its use…

• I’m just sharing a file with someone. You give some, you take some. It’s all so innocent.
• Everybody is doing it…C’MON!!!
• I can’t afford 20,000 songs!

The loading began. The kids were in on it. I was ashamed. Then one day my iPod crashed and I went to visit the folks at Apple. Here’s how the conversation went:
Me: My iPod’s not working
Apple Dude: Did it drop or did you bang it on something?
Me: Nope
Apple Dude: Did you load it with downloaded music?
Me: Nope (with a smile)
Apple Dude: You sure?
Me: Yep, I’m sure
Apple Dude: Uh because sometimes when people use files from Limewire or other file shares, the files can be corrupt and mess with the iPods with wheels.
Me: Word?
Apple Dude: Word
Me: That’s good to know (smile again)

Apple Dude tinkers with the player, shows me how to reset it if something happened again and sends me off on my merry way. And what do I do? I start lecturing my kid on the way home about and reprimanding her for installing the damn program on our computer! I felt like a serious hypocrite who became born-again at the Church of God in the Apple Store Apostolic Life Center.

Two years have passed and I’m living a clean and sober life; with only 1,000 songs on my iPod, but guilt-free nonetheless. I’m proud to tell my musician friends that I only buy my music. It wasn’t until recently that I began to notice that when I would make this statement, some of them would either change the subject or give me a half-hearted look of approval.
That’s when it became increasingly and evidently clear to me that some of these folks were probably pirating music. The clues?? Obscure Facebook comments and offhand references to their extensive music libraries were the first to tip me off.

And now I am at a crossroad…To Pirate or Not to Pirate...that is the question...

Remember all of my earlier reasoning? Well it all came flooding back to me and the “everybody’s doing it” excuse is even more appealing and relevant now that I know the “everybody” includes the same independent artists I thought I was supporting in the first place.

One of these indie friends blogged about her take on the issue. Before I read it, I was hoping that it would stop me from committing the act, but those hopes would soon be dashed (sorry gurl).

What’s the outlook for the future? How will the industry survive? Well to be honest, I don’t care about the majors. I care about the independents. Music sales and publishing are their bread and butter, but if they too are pirating music how can we combat the problem or should we?

One more take and I’m done; this one from a working expert among the majors whose visualization about the future of this business actually came in the form of a side comment he made in a vlog* about making hits. Take note of what he says about how he wants people to get his music.

And me? I love music. Any kind of music. I’ve made a decision. I know what I’m about to do. See yall on the B-side.

Ciao Ciao Ciao
The Katalist

* - this video is currently hosted via Facebook. If you have trouble accessing this link, please let me know by leaving a comment.

A Skeptic's Guide to Love and the Art of Matchmaking

I'm a skeptic who believes in love; at least the theory of love when the planets are in proper alignment, when we're entering the age of Aquarius, when two people truly don't care what other people think, AND when I; The Katalist have a hand in making the introductions...but not until all of these things are in place, do I believe in love.

I've made my fair share of matches; the business and personal sort. Most recently, I had the pleasure of making a match between two of the most unlikely people anyone else would have guessed would have hit it off. Strangely enough, even I didn't see the match. I had a guy friend who was getting over a heartbreak and I was really trying hard NOT to match him with someone else because he just seemed too fragile. Then one day, I met a really quiet young lady who would stop into the club I frequented. She would usually just stand on the sidelines, or sit alone with her violin case waiting to be called on stage and one day I think I finally decided to interact with her. Again, she was really quiet but in our brief conversations, I could tell she was really smart. And I think I should mention that this chick had no problems in attracting men. Guys I had never even seen in this place before, were slithering over to honeychile all night.

Now, I guess I should mention that I had taken a break from the whole matchmaking game because some of the women I would attempt to match just didn't know a good man if one had a sign from God handwritten on his forehead, so I became disillusioned with the sistah gurls in my life. I actually don't blame some of them, but loneliness is a hard pill to swallow...frankly when alone. Sorry, I digress...so let's just leave it as, I quit the matchmaking game...Why? It made me too angry.

BUT, on one of these days down in the dark basement club, a lighted path began to shine from one side of the room to other. This beam (as seen only by me) connected this young lady to my homeboy and in a second I knew what I had to do. Again, I don't have the foggiest clue as to whether this match made sense or not. In fact this was the first time I ever matched two people without calculation. All I figured they had in common was music; he being a drummer and her a violinist. That's all I had!

So after the night was over and the ugly lights came up, I walked this serious minded young sister over to my jovial, silly yet goodhearted homie. The introduction went something like this:

TheKatalist: Hey Biscuit
Biscuit (laughing hysterically with some other dudes): HAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAA
TheKatalist: Hey Bis (now tapping him on the arm)
Biscuit (apparently comfortable with ignoring me): HAHAHAHAHAHHHHHAAAAAHHHHH
TheKatalist: GODDAMMIT BISCUIT!!!!!!
Biscuit (snapping out of it...although I shortened this exchange of me trying to get his attention by like 5 attempts): AHHH (still teary eyed from whatever stupid joke they were laughing at...BOYS) hey wassup Kat?
TheKatalist: I'd like for you to meet Charisa....

I'd like to stop here. By now, I figured homeboy had blown it. I mean good gracious! If I was standing there waiting to be introduced to this fool, I woulda walked away by now; laughing like he was in need of medication. But I turned around and Charisa was still standing there. Gotta give the girl her props...So the introductions were made and I made my exit while acting out some very indiscreet sign language to the remaining cast of amateur comedians, to get out the hell outta the way as well.

I am not really sure what happened from there, but let's just say, nature took its course (and my man Biscuit actually must have some kinda game huh?) and the next thing I know, I'm getting a phone call from the both of them thanking me for bringing them together.

Now lemme tell you something...some of you might think that they would have probably met eventually, but that's a crock of bull and I won't even entertain that thought because it's likely to put me out of business (lol, "business", funny) if I did.

Soooooo, where are they today? I was inspired to write this blog because of the event that took place last night. I'll leave this video for you as an answer to the question. Enjoy.

P.S. - And while I am still skeptical about MANKIND, LOVE does (well maybe) exist for those who let it.

Ciao, Ciao, Ciao
The Katalist

The Industry - Same Shit...Different Decade

Facebook has renewed something in me; call it entrepreneurial curiosity or a mid-life crisis, I was sent an event invite to a panel discussion on the fate/state of magazine publishing and its future in the digital age.
Now this "alliance" who put the program together has been around for a while and I remember them from my earlier years when I was all about the business of Black media. They'll remain nameless cuz I don't feel like dissin' them publicly. But what I will diss, is the short sightedness of their lack-luster panel of magazine/online professionals (wow, I'm about to get mean. I can always tell..I apologize in advance cuz I may need a job from one of yall in the future...)

As a marketing professional working in "the business" for almost 20 years, I had expected a high-level discussion on trends and strategies prevalent in the world of online publishing specifically as it relates to synergies and integration between print and online properties.
Boy was I mistaken and shame on me for thinking I would get anymore out of it than I did.

A question fielded from the audience was dismissed without serious consideration and I believe it warranted further foresight by the panelist. Here it is...(paraphrased of course):
Q - How can I as a writer get paid by companies like yours for my content? Why don't you charge people for site access?
A1 - We only accept quality work.
A1 - I pay my writers
A2 - No one is going to pay for content
A2 - It's like TV, no one will pay
A3 - Many have tried to charge and many have failed. The only successful ones are sites like the Wall Street Journal, et al...

OK, here's where I'd like to stop because even re-telling this account is making me ill and pissed off. The TV comment got to me. No one will pay for TV? Er um what in the hell do they call cable TV? I get a bill every month for watching and although my payments are late most of the time, I DO pay for content. I pay just for the chance to catch a good movie, original cable programming and hello! RECEPTION damnit!
So I imagine that sometime ago; let's say over 40 years ago, this same conversation happened, in some boardroom between short sighted television producers, writers, etc. And now look where we are...
So I am not going to leave this post without a suggestion to those web publishers who have doubts about paid content:

• Create an area (could be sponsored) of your site that is exclusive.
• Access to this area is available via paid membership.
• Types of exclusive content: celebrity skype chats, photos, music/literary/book previews, webinars, sneek peeks, contests, show tickets, product offers, widgets/tools, etc

How's that sound? Crazy?? This doesn't mean that your entire site is a paid content model, but it does add value and affinity to your brand if you can back up your claim as a "#1" resource for all things [fill in blank].

I wish that we, as business professionals, would stop with our limited thinking and open our minds to the fact that almost anything is possible. And to paraphrase one of the panelists from last night, if ["Copernicus was in danger of being executed"] for his ideas, then I say let's tempt "death" together by thinking outrageously about the future of this medium.

Whew! I did it!
Lemme know what you think!
The Katalist