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reasons to love web 2.0, part 3

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CLASH OF THE WOLVES

I’ve been sent this a few times. It seems like a good deal. So I thought I’d share it.

Foreword

Amour & Discipline is a non-profit DIY organization. We don’t get subsidies, nor are we financed by any corporation. Most of us are also involved in Grrrnd Zero a French collective promoting independent/underground shows. The project of A&D can be divided into three parts :

  1. donation platform where people can donate to any independent band or label in the universe.
  2. A collective ad-free webzine gathering and involving all kinds of actors who contribute to the shiny world of underground/indie cultures. The mag is written by our favourite bands, labels & activists (promoters, venues, cool booking agents, webzines etc). List here.
  3. A widespread diffusion of A&D links on all kinds of websites to remind people they can support music this way.

To cover our costs, we’ve decided that A&D users will simply choose if and how much they want to give us.

A&D is not a place dedicated to music download, but a place to support artists/labels. The only music available will be found in the webzine, willingly shared by the artists themselves.

Our website will launch on March 8th, 2012.

Until then, you can choose to read either :

  • the A&D Breathtaking Full Manifesto (approximately 8 pages = 3 cups of black coffee)
  • or the Short Manifesto (tells you the bare minimum in one page = 1 cup of coffee)

You can also go straight to :

  • our “know-how” section by clicking on Functionning of A&D
  • additional rambling on indie labels, digital era, Creative Commons (…) which we haven’t included in our manifestos, by going to Additionnal Topics For You To Shine In High Society

Choose from the left column menu !

If you think the A&D project is relevant, don’t hesitate to spread the URL of our website (via email, blogs, webzines, social networks, carrier pigeons…).

SHORT, REDUCTIVE AND INCOMPLETE MANIFESTO FOR THOSE IN A HURRY

  • How much does a band earn when you’re sharing their music with a friend, or when you’re using P2P or direct download services to get it?
  • Well, ok, zero. But how much does a band earn when you buy a $10 CD in a store ?
  • $1.2. How much does a band earn when you buy a $0.99 song on Itunes ?
  • 15 cents. How much does a band earn when you listen to a song one hundred times on Spotify ?
  • $0.5. How much would a band earn if you sent them a free donation ?
  • The exact amount you chose to give. Of course, these are average figures regarding both indie and mainstream artists; some manage to get better deals, others get worse. But most of the time, no matter how you listen to music, the artist gets very little financial support. In recent years, technology has made music shift from scarce goods to infinite goods: once the original is made, it takes zero marginal cost to make a digital copy and distribute it. All the music in the world is available for (almost) nothing, and less and less people are buying physical records. Global Non-Commercial Culture Sharing is now a reality – which, don’t get us wrong, is simply great – but the problem of decently funding artistic creation remains.

But Why?

  • a lot of people want to maintain old centralized models of distribution in the digital world, creating artificial scarcity on infinite goods, and pretending global culture sharing never happened
  • big entertainment corporations keep laying down the law
  • many middlemen are still involved. Some of them are valuable (independent labels), some have to be questioned

So, why not directly support those who create music and those who really help to produce it?

This is what we’re experimenting with this Donation Platform. A&D project is not about charity, but Gift Economy. It is not about guilt, but common decency. Of course, good ways to support bands/labels already exist (buying stuff directly from them, for example).

Of course, good ways to support bands/labels already exist and crucial ideas still have to be tested, but we think A&D can be a useful step to promote two fundamental and inseparable points :

  1. Non-Commercial Culture Sharing is essential and legitimate
  2. We can and we must find new ways to support independent authors and producers, so the aforementioned fact won’t cast them in the sewers where they will starve alone

We think the combination of coercive (i.e. governments) and mercantile (i.e. corporations) tactics should certainly not be the only ones driving the legislation, distribution, and financing of culture. On the contrary, we believe the present situation urges us to invent new alternative strategies.

FULL MANIFESTO, SENSITIVE INFO & EPIPHANY ON   WWW.AMOUR-DISCIPLINE.ORG

Some bands/labels/webzines contributing to A&D Webzine:
Action Beat, Aguirre Records, Anders Hana (Moha!, Ultralyd…), Amen Dunes, Astral Social Club, Autumn Records, Ben Greenberg (Zs, Hubble, The Men), Ben McOsker (Load records), Brad Rose (Digitalis), Bruno Dorella (Bar la Muerte records, OvO…), Carla Bozulich, Chris Corsano, Chora, Clint Simonson (De Stijl records), Dan Deacon, Daniel Francis Doyle, Datashock, Dean Spunt (No Age, Post Present Medium), Deerhoof, Dirty Beaches, Doru Mihail and other Cookshop dudes, Dustin Wong, Dwight & Brian (Get Off The Coast / Secret Decoder), Efrim Manuel Menuck (Godspeedyoublackemperor/A Silver Mt Zion/Constellation), Ela Orleans, Eli Keszler, EMA, Ensemble Economique, Father Murphy, Gangpol und Mit, Giuseppe Ielasi, Golden Cup/ 8 MM Records, Hoquets, Jakub Adamek (Weed Temple), Japanther, Jeffrey lewis, Jon Hency (Bathetic records), Julian Lynch, Justice Yeldham, Kemialliset Ystävät, Lightning Bolt, Liars, Marc Richter (Dekorder), Marvin, Mount Eerie, Nicholas Short (ex-Ruby Scoops), Orange Milk records, Our Brother The Native, Patrick Flegel (Women), Peter Nicholson (One Ensemble) Pheromoans, Pica Disk, Pierre Bastien, Pink Reason, Pneu, Prince Rama, Ramona Cordova, Rusty Santos (The Present), Scout Niblett, Sculpture, Sean Terroreyes, Senufo Editions, Shadow Grounds, Shawn Reed (Wet hair/Night People), Singing Knives, Sole, Sore Eros, Spencer Clark, Stadiums & Shrines, Stonerobixxx, Stranded Horse, Sun Araw, Sunburned Hand, Tape Drift Records, Teenage Teardrops, The Ex, The Rebel, Tonstartssbandht, Troglosound, Tune Yards, Upset the Rythm, Volcano the bear, Xiu Xiu…

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