Conversation

Notices

1. Strypey (strypey@mastodon.nzoss.nz)'s status on Monday, 26-Nov-2018 22:23:46 EST Strypey

   The #FreeMusicArchive is facing a funding crisis, and at this point, will be shutting down on Dec 1. If you, or your organisation, can help keep the #FMA alive, please contact them today! While their full collection and an archive of the site will be available on #Archive.org, it would be a real shame if the live site, and its community of curators, was lost to the web: http://freemusicarchive.org/member/cheyenne_h/blog/Big_Changes_Ahead_for_FMA

   1. Strypey (strypey@mastodon.nzoss.nz)'s status on Tuesday, 27-Nov-2018 00:33:46 EST Strypey

      in reply to

      @musicman @craigmaloney @kevie @forteller @ahihi @tk @luka @lukaso666 @Jbastardov

   2. Strypey (strypey@mastodon.nzoss.nz)'s status on Tuesday, 27-Nov-2018 00:37:12 EST Strypey

      in reply to

      Why are online institutions like the Free Music Archive important? Because they are (ideally) an enduring public record of the work created by musicians who choose a more permissive style of copyright licensing for a wide range of reasons, and often with a level of commercial success that some people may find surprising:
      https://creativecommonsusa.org/index.php/2018/03/30/when-musicians-use-creative-commons-licenses/

      1. musicman (musicman@nu.federati.net)'s status on Tuesday, 27-Nov-2018 09:33:44 EST musicman

         in reply to
         I tried to avoid this fate 5 years ago, but no one listened. I'd suggest it's too late now unless somebody knows someone with deep pockets. Deep is relative, of course. I know the number FMA needs, but I'm not sure if it's public. I guess it probably is as a 501(c)(3), but nonetheless it's about double my salary.
         1. Strypey (strypey@mastodon.nzoss.nz)'s status on Tuesday, 27-Nov-2018 09:49:37 EST Strypey

            in reply to

            @musicman I don't remember seeing anything that suggested the FMA was in trouble. I guess I wasn't looking in the right place at the right time. Information overload remains a serious problem, and one that the fediverse, for all its good features, does very little to solve. If I had, this is a problem I would have put some serious time into. The latest blog posts suggest FMA folksare talking to some people that might be able to help them keep the wolves from the door, at least in the short term.

            1. musicman (musicman@nu.federati.net)'s status on Tuesday, 27-Nov-2018 10:33:20 EST musicman

               in reply to
               At this point, probably the thing to do if you want to help out is talk to https://twitter.com/starfrosch -- I can get you an email address if you want.
               
               It's not FMA-directly, but addressing the bigger picture. Cheyenne is approachable if you want to help out with the FMA-directly.
         2. lnxw48a1 (lnxw48a1@nu.federati.net)'s status on Tuesday, 27-Nov-2018 10:20:16 EST lnxw48a1

            in reply to
            @musicman @strypey I think there are always more hands extended asking for support than people can respond to, so a few high-profile organizations grab the largest share of donations, leaving mostly crumbs for other groups to compete for.
            
            Partly, we need to get past the idea that FaiF software/media/culture is necessarily zero-price (FaiB) and that we don’t ever need to fund it. And partly, we need to get past the idea that sending a little money means you’ve already “done your part” and don’t ever need to provide non-financial assistance.
            
            Everything we use costs someone something. We should not always “consume” and never return anything to the people that create / build / host / provide what we use.
            1. Strypey (strypey@mastodon.nzoss.nz)'s status on Tuesday, 27-Nov-2018 11:54:19 EST Strypey

               in reply to

               @lnxw48a1 @musicman I hear your frustration. But from an audience POV, it's so hard to decide where to put the $5 a week we can afford into. I really want there to be an organisation I can put that $5 a week into, on an automatic payment, and encourage everyone else who supports libre commons to do the same. Then either a committee gives out funding from that pool, or we have a co-budgeting process where everyone putting in decides together how to disburse it.

               1. Strypey (strypey@mastodon.nzoss.nz)'s status on Tuesday, 27-Nov-2018 11:57:13 EST Strypey

                  in reply to

                  @lnxw48a1 @musicman otherwise it just feels like slapping $5 band-aids in gaping wounds like the FMA funding gap. It's overwhelming, and quite frankly, depressing. I felt better about it when my wife was a broke student and all we could afford to put in was activist labour.

               2. musicman (musicman@nu.federati.net)'s status on Tuesday, 27-Nov-2018 14:23:43 EST musicman

                  in reply to
                  that's exactly what I tried to do 5 years ago. Starfrosch is giving it another go. It may be that having a global organization just isn't going to work and we have to do different stuff in the Americas or break it up by continent. The laws are different. The time zones are different. The holidays are different. In some cases, the weekends are different.
                  
                  I think the biggest issue is "perfect is the enemy of good". Anyway, I sent Markus my notes from 5 years ago. Maybe something will come of it.
                  1. Strypey (strypey@mastodon.nzoss.nz)'s status on Wednesday, 28-Nov-2018 04:13:38 EST Strypey

                     in reply to

                     @musicman you may have been ahead of your time. It happens. I remember describing something resembling the #fediverse to my colleagues in Indymedia back in the early 2000s, as a more resilient alternative to centralized sites whose servers could be seized by authorities. I also remember describing something resembling what is now called "cloud hosting", as another way to avoid that, well before that became an industry norm.

                  2. Strypey (strypey@mastodon.nzoss.nz)'s status on Wednesday, 28-Nov-2018 04:18:20 EST Strypey

                     in reply to

                     @musicman
                     > It may be that having a global organization just isn't going to work

                     I suspect not. I mean, we don't have a single, global collecting society for all works covered by #ARR copyright, including proprietary software. Each country and each industry has come up with its own solutions; collecting societies, licensing etc.

                     1. Strypey (strypey@mastodon.nzoss.nz)'s status on Wednesday, 28-Nov-2018 21:56:39 EST Strypey

                        in reply to

                        @musicman one thing that would definitely help is a trustworthy global organization putting together some research on the various projects already out there attempting to help commons projects collect money; all the crowdfunding and micro-patronage sites, and 'buy me a coffee' systems, and so. From both an audience and creator POV, there are so many platforms it's very hard to know which ones are trustworthy, let alone effective. I blogged about this recently:
                        https://www.coactivate.org/projects/disintermedia/blog/2018/04/19/funding-the-web-commons-or-how-do-you-fund-crowdfunding/

                        1. musicman (musicman@nu.federati.net)'s status on Thursday, 29-Nov-2018 10:41:58 EST musicman

                           in reply to
                           When I was working on this full-time I knew a ton about this stuff. I'm really not involved anymore and have no intention to be (simply due to lack of time). You should talk to Markus: markus.koller@starfrosch.ch
                           1. Strypey (strypey@mastodon.nzoss.nz)'s status on Friday, 30-Nov-2018 05:57:57 EST Strypey

                              in reply to

                              @musicman fair enough, thanks for the contact info.

                              1. musicman (musicman@nu.federati.net)'s status on Wednesday, 05-Dec-2018 17:11:16 EST musicman

                                 in reply to
                                 If we ever make enough revenue with blocSonic for me to go full-time, then I'll be able to help out with this type of stuff again.
                                 
                                 Perhaps after my eldest cat dies. He's a lot of work right now.
                                 
                                 Mike (the blocSonic founder) thinks what's good for the CC-community is good for blocSonic. Mike is involved in the OMN effort.
                                 
                                 I don't anticipate being involved any time soon though.
                                 1. Strypey (strypey@mastodon.nzoss.nz)'s status on Thursday, 06-Dec-2018 00:58:28 EST Strypey

                                    in reply to

                                    @musicman OK. Is Mike of #blocSonic active in the #fediverse?

                                    1. musicman (musicman@nu.federati.net)'s status on Thursday, 06-Dec-2018 07:27:38 EST musicman

                                       in reply to
                                       @strypey no, mike@blocsonic.com