CD's or MP3's

[Guest guest]

Sat Nam,

There are many assumptions and nuances buried within this discussion thread,

apparently by fear and emotion about an artist's legitimate right to be paid.

It might be helpful to widen the boundaries a bit.

 

When I wrote about Seva and Open Source, I was not advocating theft. I was

opening the boundaries in a specific direction about " intellectual property " and

the fact that there are varying and even legitimately opposing views and values

about property, and its " proper place " within a culture. We live in a culture

that is incredibly obsessed about property issues (whether by " haves " or

" have-nots " ). In the set of social values that Siri Singh Sahib taught, the

values from which I have derived my own ideals, he said " There are three ways to

find Liberation: to be a Hero, a Saint, or a Giver. " Perhaps some believe he

should have said " be a hero, a saint, or a retailer. " But that is not what he

said.

 

What we have had here is a meaningful interaction between TWO INDEPENDENT SETS

OF NEEDS, and in fact, even in commerce two independent sets of needs are

necessary in order to establish and complete a financial transaction. You have

the needs of the producer, and the needs identified with the user of the

product.

 

This thread started with a post by " jreneeworks " who was expressing a real need

on her part to " LISTEN " to Dharmic and otherwise spiritual music (not illegally

or unethically to " sell " the works of others). THAT need is actually the

primary need in this context - without that need the musician would not have a

market for their music at all. So, yes, there is a huge investment of time,

mind, practice, skill and creativity to produce the kinds of profoundly

inspiring music that our own musicians such as Snatam Kaur, Nirinjan Kaur, Mata

Mandir Singh, and dozens of other uniquely wonderful musicians within our world

community have produced and continue to innovate constantly. But, if this

discussion focuses completely on the needs of the musician, without considering

the needs of listeners, and WHO the listeners ARE today, and if ignore the

technical and cultural media REALITIES that define music distribution today,

then we're having a very poor discussion.

 

My posts (and one from Fateh Singh) were addressed to a listener whose needs for

music are currently (obviously) NOT being met. Since this listener was focused

on " music CD's " that focus on CD's also tended to distract fromthe recognition

that the need for music can be met in other ways. You don't have to buy a $20

CD and pay the shipping of another $4 or $5 - you can download MP3's one track

at a time, for 99 cents (or so) with NO shipping costs. I've been buying music

this way (as I can afford it) for more than a decade (since the internet and

Apple iTunes became one of the distribution standards).

 

I DEPEND on music to keep my life going around. I really do. In this way I

have amassed a HUGE collection of fantastic music over these years, and most of

it is still alive and real for me, even after years of listening.

 

Moreover, the standards for SHARING music are not so black and white and

limited: it's not a hard choice between " for the buyer's ears only " vs. piracy.

One example, iTunes and their proprietary MP4 file format, allows the music to

be shared on 3 computers (plus your iPods, or whatever). If I have one computer

and 2 friends, I can give my two friends permission to register and listen to

the music I purchased online, forever, as many times as they want. They might

be a spouse, a child, or even the studio where one practices yoga. So, absolute

exclusivity vs. piracy are not the only options here. And musicians who allow

their music to be distributed freely to all and anyone are also to be found (as

Mr. Sikhnet and Sikhnet.com, for examples). So musical distribution is a

multi-verse, not a one way universe. And yes, of course, listeners can choose

to be ethical or unethical in how they/we acquire music and how we might share

it.

 

These days I download (and pay) for music primarily from Spirit Voyage for

Dharmic and 3HO music, eMusic.com for the kinds of meditative instrumental music

such as from Deuter that I use extensively in energy healing work, and deep raja

yoga meditation, and sometime from Amazon.com mp3 when it's not available from

the two sources above. A monthly subscription to eMusic is only $13 for 37

tracks to download. Amazing! And because music IS so important to me, even on

my very small personal (but not " needy " ) budget, this amount is quite worth it

for me. I live within my finite financial means and I am wealthy, very much

because of the music and meditation and Seva in my life. Seva ( " giving " ) makes

me wealthiest of all.

 

I don't use iTunes anymore because of the issues in flexibility of use around

mp4's, but I still use the iTune Juke Box for playing music - though it has it's

own drawbacks, it's free and does a sophisticated job of managing playlists and

playing music.

 

In order to make wise and good choices, it seems valuable to offer a broad and

neutral view of all the options, rather than react with fear about the fates of

being unpaid. That's the most common story in the world economy today: " What

about ME? "

 

Stephen Foster wrote an incredible song 150 years ago, " Hard Times Come Again No

More. " The fact is, in listening to the kinds of music that J Renee is seeking

for her own legitimate needs, when you listen to Gurbani Kirtan, or Soul Lifting

Kundalini Inspiring Music ( " SLKIM " ) HARD TIMES IMMEDIATELY DISAPPEAR! If one

can somehow listen to such music ALL THE TIME, while we work diligently to

master and SERVE the times and the PEOPLE who SUFFER within them, Hard Times

don't even exist for that person, who can also be busy as a Sevadar transforming

the realities that cause suffering for others. This was and is the Vision of

our Teacher.

 

Perhaps musicians, as creative people, can be a little more creative in finding

new and innovative ways for humanity to get its Musical Needs met? When your

music, as a mucician, is the vehicle that inspires and uplifts and empowers

people to change their lives and change the world, the extension of YOUR

EXISTENCE will live in their hearts forever. Yogiji said, " My robe doesn't have

any pockets, and I don't carry a wallet. When we leave here, nothing goes with

us but the Grace that we lived by. "

 

Is money the real issue here? I don't think so.

 

for many Blessings,

Krishna Singh

 

 

 

A number of writers spoke in reaction and indignation that (essentially)

musicians are sometimes financially needy and dependent on sales of their music.

 

 

 

 

 

Kundalini-Yoga , " Amar Khalsa " <akhalsa wrote:

>

> Yes, there are many points of view and seva is a very important part of

> life. However, it's another matter altogether when one's liveliehood depends

> on CD sales and royalties. My wife (Sahib-Amar Kaur) and I have been doing

> musical seva for most of our lives - we've also been fortunate to sometimes

> be paid for our musical services. However, we don't depend on music to

> support ourselves like artists such as Snatam Kaur, Deva Premal, Sat Kartar

> Kaur, et al. These people are not getting rich doing what they do and

> deserve all the support they can get. That includes paying for their CD's so

> they can continue to make more of them and continue to uplift people by

> sharing their music through their tours.

>

>

>

> So yes, seva is important but it should be voluntary. If you feel that

> burning a few CD's for your friends is okay, then out of respect for the

> artist, contact them and see how they feel about it. Burning CD's and

> selling them is called pirating and it's illegal.

>

>

>

> Amar Singh

>