Ear to Ear - Music Piracy and the Listener

When was the last time you downloaded a piece of music? Now another question; when was the last time you listened to a mixtape (or mix CD)? And no, muxtape does not count.

People have been swapping music illicitly for a long time, but with the rise of the internet the methods and scope of that sharing have changed completely. The most popular means of trading copyrighted material has been the emergent peer to peer technologies (all seemingly kneeling at the altar of bit torrent). Recent changes in copyright laws, combined with high-profile lawsuits (including last fall's shutdown of the world's most popular peer-to-peer network, Oink), have not only threatened the way fans consume their art, but have temporarily brought even more attention to and interest in downloading music illegally.

While this turnaround in music distribution has had an invariable effect on the artist, it's also profoundly changed the way us fanatics listen to our music (the death of real rock appreciation? the end of a true musical community?) With all this in mind, Cornershop Projects has brought together Ear to Ear at the Or Gallery, on display this weekend only: "a community-based, ad hoc archive of contemporary popular music and music ephemera." The show brings together visual, audio, and printed materials including 29 specially commissioned mix CDs which'll be given out over the weekend. There's also a conversation today at 5:00 (with lots of guests) and a closing night party on Sunday. More after the jump...

Trading mixes has always been on shaky legal ground, but was traditionally done on such a small scale that the artists and record companies were happy to ignore it. While 'pirate' music fans are essentially doing the same thing they've been doing for years (swapping and discussing songs, wearing pants that don't fit), the internet has given almost any individual with a high-speed connection and a marginal interest in melody the opportunity to fashion themselves an 'elitist', at least as advertised by his or her iPod library. Sure, more people are able to avoid the tyranny of top 40 radio and actually choose what to spend their money on, but fans -- first and foremost -- need to realize that art is something that is worth spending their money on.

You don't need me to tell you that the artists have had to adapt, with high profile acts like Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails surprise-releasing their own material online, Madonna abandoning her record company, and the iTunes store being shoved in your face every time you load up an album. Lots of independent bands are going digital-only with their latest releases, with many of the smallest bands out there are giving up entirely on making profit off their recorded material -- uploading records themselves while hoping to build off the hype through tours, t-shirts, and maybe some music once all 'the current mess is sorted out'.

It's undeniable that the net could usher in a new era of musical democracy, but right now it's just a little too close to anarchy. Some could argue that the community is stronger than ever: daily online reviews from multiple sources, twelve new music blogs every day, and message boards teeming with high-schoolers ready to rip on Beck for his Scientology habit. But that's part of the problem: there's so much out there but so little real appreciation. Artists get given a 7.5 or higher by Pitchfork, get downloaded by everyone that day, listened to for a week, then forgotten about in lieu of the next starred review. Message boards have disintegrated into people trawling for leaks (looking for free music), with one-full-sentence-plus-punctuation becoming the acme of 'intelligent' music criticism. (90% of posts on the Radiohead fan message boards, one of the busiest online 'communities' out there: "has _____ leaked yet?" or, "can I get a re-up of _______") Meanwhile, blogs seem to either go corporate or get shutdown for offering free material.

The difference from fanzine and mixtape culture is obvious: no longer does the music provide a reason to form a community of artists and fans, but rather the community now provides an excuse (and opportunity) to embrace the selfish pursuit of aural pleasure and an all-too-capitalist drive for music accumulation. Don't even get me started on the self-indulgent modern indie critics...

I never got too deeply involved in Fanzine culture, but before the blogs and websites they were the only way to read about independent music. Curator Jeff Khonsary has brought together a large archive of fanzines and small press magazines, and included amongst the displayed items will be selections from: Slash, The Cimarron Weekend, FILE, Maximum Rock 'n' Roll, The Offense, Rollerderby, Ugly Things, The Drippy Gazette, Beikoku-Ongaku, and dozens more.

I did at least get in on the 'net early, while there was still a somewhat legitimate underground community properly discussing and sharing music. I remember using my newfound net-music-savvy to craft a lot of mix CDs at the time, but with the ubiquity of online sharing these days that habit has pretty much died. Like I mentioned earlier, at the heart of Ear to Ear is 29 specially commissioned mix CDs, which will be distributed over the course of three days. Free stuff! But you'll have to move those legs, maybe even talk...

Sorry for the lack of linkage, or any small mistakes -- just got wind of this last night, but thought it needed some attention. I've got a lot of thoughts and will hopefully make it to the conversation this afternoon. Free music, duh.

Ear to Ear runs from July 4 - July 6 12-5pm.

Conversations at 5pm on July 5.

Closing party with guest DJs, at 7pm on July 6.

The Or Gallery is located at #103 - 480 Smithe Street (Smite & Richards).

photo courtesy of Jeff Khonsary