The creators of MP3 have come up with a new file format called MusicDNA. The objective was to create a format that gives listeners an incentive to buy music legally. It intends to do so by being not just a music file, but something that brings together artist information like blogs, tweets, tour dates, recent concert footage, artwork, sleeve notes, and so on.
I know, it sounds like a joke.
A very high percentage of blogging encourages the purchase of something. Makes you think the “Buy Nothing Day” sentiment is out of place; the new sentiment is definitely buy something, but buy it from the right people. Slavoj Zizek’s website tells you to buy his books. So does Naomi Klein’s. And they’re both anti-capitalism. Going by the trends of a very young 2010, people are gonna have to start paying for New York Times online, to watch “Modern Family” on Hulu, for the music they listen to (for real), and so on, because people spend their lives creating meaningful or beautiful things and the only way to reward them is to purchase their work. Sigh. So shop this weekend heartily with an open wallet while this philosophical quandary remains unresolved:
Lomography Gallery Store NYC’s 1 Year Anniversary Sample Sale
Over the year we’ve accumulated some stock from press samples, returns where the packaging is slightly imperfect, or a few floating cameras or accessories that seem to have lost their packages all together. So for 2 DAYS ONLY we’re offering them to you at insane discounts! Save a whopping 15% to 50% off on that camera, lens, bag, t-shirt, book, or accessory you’ve been coveting! Get a Diana F+ for as low as $47.50, or a Horizon Perfekt for $75 off! This is the sale of year, folks, we’re not kidding!
Housing Works Bookstore kicks off an all-day geek sale that runs through Jan 29.
Housing Works Bookstore Cafe kicks off the new year in a nerdy way with our Geektacular Sale January 23-29. For seven full days, score with huge discounts on our already-low prices. Peruse our fantastic selection of records and comic books, which are 5 for $1. Science fiction books and CDs are geektacular too, and marked down 30% for the sale.
David Byrne blogged a response to a negative review of his show in New York Times yesterday, and he mentions something I think about all the time. I’ve italicized the relevant parts, and bolded what hits the hardest:
I still haven’t read the review, and don’t intend to. While taking criticism on board can be constructive, it can also be detrimental to the creative process if it’s considered while that process is still under way. It undermines one’s enthusiasm and will — which is OK, beneficial even, but only after a tour (for example) is over.
I agree with all of that except for the “which is OK” part. How can it ever be OK to let anything undermine “one’s enthusiasm and will”? I’d go even further and say your whole musical existence is one big, never-ending process and it’s pure treachery to your craft to seriously consider any criticism unless the critic reveals to you what you already knew but you didn’t know you knew.
