New articles have been slow this week, as we are working on an exciting grant opportunity -- of which we will offer more news soon.
Until then, we recommend that folks visit The Boiled Down Juice to read a thorough discussion of the recent exchange between NPR Music intern Emily White, of the “I Never Owned Music to Begin With" editorial, and the response by musician James Lowery (of Camper Von Beethoven, Cracker).
Though these pieces may have already virally inserted themselves into your digital life, it's worth reading how BDJ editor Meredith Martin Moats presents this tension between the Free Culture Movement and the need to treat artists (and their creative property) with respect and decency. The piece concludes by posing a provocative question about how, as artists and audiences, we should act as members of a kind of digital "commons."
In the debate over these pieces, that kind of broader perspective is missing; we can argue Spotify percentages, but the deeper, more systemic problem is how we envision ourselves as in a community with these artists. Ms. Moats offers some initial actions that anyone could take to foster this ethic, and she is asking for her readers to add to this effort.
