Members gtrwiz Posted April 19, 2009 Members Share Posted April 19, 2009 In light of the Pirate Bay thingy, I thought I'd share this: http://techdirt.com/articles/20090405/1806484395.shtml Did Frank Zappa Come Up With A Business Plan For File Sharing In 1983? from the looks-like-maybe... dept Reader SunKing sends in this little tidbit that I'd not seen before (perhaps some of you have). It comes from The Real Frank Zappa Book and discusses his response to "the home taping movement" and the attempt to get everyone to rebuy their old albums on CD by proposing a system where you could subscribe to whatever genre of music you wanted and get it delivered in batches. He first talks about how ridiculous it is to focus just on selling discs of music: MUSIC CONSUMERS LIKE TO CONSUME MUSIC . . . NOT PIECES OF VINYL WRAPPED IN PIECES OF CARDBOARD. Then he talks about how to "embrace" home taping: It is our proposal to take advantage of the POSITIVE ASPECTS of a NEGATIVE TREND afflicting the record industry today: HOME TAPING via cassette of material released on vinyl.... First of all, we must realize that the taping of albums is not motivated by 'stinginess' alone .... People today enjoy music more than ever before, and, they like to take it with them wherever they go. THEY CAN HEAR THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GOOD AUDIO AND BAD AUDIO . . . THEY CARE ABOUT THAT DIFFERENCE, AND THEY ARE WILLING TO GO TO SOME TROUBLE AND EXPENSE TO HAVE HIGH QUALITY 'PORTABLE AUDIO' TO USE AS 'WALLPAPER FOR THEIR LIFESTYLE'. So he makes the following suggestion: We propose to acquire the rights to digitally duplicate and store THE BEST of every record company's difficult-to-move Quality Catalog Items [Q.C.I.], store them in a central processing location, and have them accessible by phone or cable TV, directly patchable into the user's home taping appliances, with the option of direct digital-to-digital transfer to F-1 (SONY consumer level digital tape encoder), Beta Hi-Fi, or ordinary analog cassette (requiring the installation of a rentable D-A converter in the phone itself . . . the main chip is about $12). All accounting for royalty payments, billing to the customer, etc. would be automatic, built into the initial software for the system. The consumer has the option of subscribing to one or more Interest Categories, charged at a monthly rate, without regard for the quantity of music he or she decides to tape. Providing material in such quantity at a reduced cost could actually diminish the desire to duplicate and store it, since it would be available any time day or night. Monthly listings could be provided by catalog, reducing the on-line storage requirements of the computer. The entire service would be accessed by phone, even if the local reception is via TV cable. The advantage of the TV cable is: on those channels where nothing ever seems to happen (there's about 70 of them in L.A.), a visualization of the original cover art, including song lyrics, technical data, etc., could be displayed while the transmission is in progress, giving the project an electronic whiff of the original point-of-purchase merchandising built into the album when it was 'an album', since there are many consumers who like to fondle & fetish the packaging while the music is being played. In this situation, Fondlement & Fetishism Potential [F.F.P.] is supplied, without the cost of shipping tons of cardboard around. We require a LARGE quantity of money and the services of a team of mega-hackers to write the software for this system. Most of the hardware devices are, even as you read this, available as off-the-shelf items, just waiting to be plugged into each other so they can put an end to "THE RECORD BUSINESS" as we now know it. Just imagine how different the music industry might be today if he'd been able to move forward with that idea. 1983 was probably too early, but jump forward ten years... and we'd be facing a very different sort of music industry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members NetStar Posted April 19, 2009 Members Share Posted April 19, 2009 iTunes'd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jorhay1 Posted April 19, 2009 Members Share Posted April 19, 2009 damn! thats incredible Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members d4rk0 Posted April 19, 2009 Members Share Posted April 19, 2009 Ahead of his time'd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Feghead Posted April 19, 2009 Members Share Posted April 19, 2009 I remember reading out this 16 years ago in the Real FZ book, along with an idea that went like: By using a modifiied version of the computer logic chip currently employed in the generation of 3-D visuals for flight training simulators, in conjunction with an optical delivery system (yet to be designed) The device would make it possible to generate free-standing 3-D imagse in any size, so you could have gigs on your coffee table and stuff like that! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members driverhasabomb Posted April 19, 2009 Members Share Posted April 19, 2009 The device would make it possible to generate free-standing 3-D imagse in any size, so you could have gigs on your coffee table and stuff like that! Imagine the pornography possibilities here guys Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TheHarakiriEnd Posted April 19, 2009 Members Share Posted April 19, 2009 Imagine the pornography possibilities here guys Exactly my thoughts... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RadioSilence Posted April 19, 2009 Members Share Posted April 19, 2009 25 years ahead of his time, the man was a genius. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bobby D Posted April 19, 2009 Members Share Posted April 19, 2009 many of you should go BUY the REAL FRANK ZAPPA BOOK. i said it before, i say it AGAIN. essential reading for anyone in the music biz:cop: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members The Great Waldo Pepper Posted April 19, 2009 Members Share Posted April 19, 2009 Zappa is such a hero of mine. Up there with Johnny Cash, Joe Strummer, John Lennon, Waylon Jennings, & Neil Young. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members HeartfeltDawn Posted April 19, 2009 Members Share Posted April 19, 2009 The one bit of the article I'd disagree with in terms of the modern audience is this: It is our proposal to take advantage of the POSITIVE ASPECTS of a NEGATIVE TREND afflicting the record industry today: HOME TAPING via cassette of material released on vinyl.... First of all, we must realize that the taping of albums is not motivated by 'stinginess' alone .... People today enjoy music more than ever before, and, they like to take it with them wherever they go. THEY CAN HEAR THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GOOD AUDIO AND BAD AUDIO . . . THEY CARE ABOUT THAT DIFFERENCE, AND THEY ARE WILLING TO GO TO SOME TROUBLE AND EXPENSE TO HAVE HIGH QUALITY 'PORTABLE AUDIO' TO USE AS 'WALLPAPER FOR THEIR LIFESTYLE'. That palpably isn't the case now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members LowWoods Posted April 19, 2009 Members Share Posted April 19, 2009 many of you should go BUY the REAL FRANK ZAPPA BOOK. i said it before, i say it AGAIN. essential reading for anyone in the music biz:cop: truer words have never been spoken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bobby D Posted April 19, 2009 Members Share Posted April 19, 2009 long live frank zappa.....i was never a huge fan of his guitar playing, but his critical thought and writings and perception of the music biz was TOP NOTCH. and he gave us the beauty that is moon unit:love::love: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members LowWoods Posted April 19, 2009 Members Share Posted April 19, 2009 long live frank zappa.....i was never a huge fan of his guitar playing, I will post videos constantly forever until you become a huge fan of his guitar playing. [YOUTUBE][/YOUTUBE] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bobby D Posted April 19, 2009 Members Share Posted April 19, 2009 hahaha....yeah, i know. here's a pic of me at SEVENTEEN with my SG....look who is in the poster above me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members LowWoods Posted April 19, 2009 Members Share Posted April 19, 2009 Ahem... [YOUTUBE][/YOUTUBE] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bobby D Posted April 19, 2009 Members Share Posted April 19, 2009 i know, i know...he is a GREAT guitarist. i always found his tone to be a bit shrill and grating. he sure did know how to HIRE great guitarists, tho Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Tengo Posted April 19, 2009 Members Share Posted April 19, 2009 25 years ahead of his time, the man was a genius. this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MrChrisos Posted April 19, 2009 Members Share Posted April 19, 2009 many of you should go BUY the REAL FRANK ZAPPA BOOK.i said it before, i say it AGAIN.essential reading for anyone in the music biz:cop: VERY, very, true. Essential reading, and one of the most readable autobiographies I've come across. The only thing missing from that book was more about his gear! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bobby D Posted April 19, 2009 Members Share Posted April 19, 2009 VERY, very, true. Essential reading, and one of the most readable autobiographies I've come across. The only thing missing from that book was more about his gear! people i respected kept telling me to read it when i was younger, but i resisted.....i just didn't think it would be all that interesting. i was WRONG. it's funny as hell, erudite, informative, and a great read. and you can find it used on evilbay for like $3.99..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RadioSilence Posted April 19, 2009 Members Share Posted April 19, 2009 fix'dtrue Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Snail_killer Posted April 19, 2009 Members Share Posted April 19, 2009 hahaha....yeah, i know. here's a pic of me at SEVENTEEN with my SG....look who is in the poster above me You may be cooler than I!?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bobby D Posted April 19, 2009 Members Share Posted April 19, 2009 i used to LOVE me some SG when i was a kid. it was more of the influence of Angus Young than Frank, tho......Angus led me to the blues! damn things don't stay in tune too well, though...... that SG Custom was pretty pimp....dimarzios in middle and bridge.....and the obligatory 70s brass bridge and tailpiece. and LOOK! i knew how to play the "E" barre chord! purple pants damn, i was a skinny boy...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members seifukusha Posted April 20, 2009 Members Share Posted April 20, 2009 respect to zappa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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