In this Discussion
- DJRose January 2010
- KristaMichelle January 2010
So Basically I'm Writing a 15-Page Paper on OK Go
Okay, well it's not actually on OK Go. But it's close enough. 
And they will be heavily featured, as I believe I am going to make them a case study. I'm writing this for a research-based writing class, and the first step in this assignment is a project proposal. So I wanted to know what you lovelies would think of it (both the proposal itself and the general idea of the paper to come). Questions? Comments? Ideas? I'd really like your feedback. Thanks! 
Also, I need a working title, so if anyone has a suggestion for that, I'd greatly appreciate it. I'm just blanking on that for some reason.
For decades, the popular music industry has funded itself through the careful distribution of privately owned music. From vinyl records to 8-track tapes to cassette tapes to CDs, there has always been a tangible object that could be considered synonymous with the word “music.” However, over the past decade, there has been a great rise in the ability to transfer music digitally. By now, anyone who has access to the internet can potentially download any piece of music they desire at no cost. This has record labels scrambling to adapt to the new system, one which admittedly makes it difficult for them to generate any sort of significant revenue. The internet has essentially been the epicenter of a major earthquake that has shaken the music industry, and shock waves can be felt not only in the industry as a whole, but on the most micro of levels as well.
In this paper, I analyze the effects of the changing system of music distribution that have already occurred on both a large and small scale. I use the rock band OK Go, fronted by Damian Kulash, as a case study in why bands have ended up in the position they currently inhabit and how they are working to create a balance between existing labels and the new internet culture of music. “We’ve got this ridiculous situation,” says Kulash in “An Open Letter Regarding Non-Embeddable YouTube Videos,” “where the machinery of the old system is frantically trying to contort and reshape and rewire itself to run without actually selling music. It’s like a car trying to figure out how to run without gas, or a fish trying to learn to breath air.” So far, the industry has not taken the appropriate measures to reconfigure itself. Lawsuits are not uncommon, and only some parts of the world even have legal access to new music. Yet if the industry does not bend to the will of the times, it will inevitably collapse into itself like a dying star, and this could spell disaster for musicians and their fans everywhere.
Major labels need to rework their entire model from the ground up. I provide both a proposal for how they can accomplish this and analyze both the positive and negative effects it will have on them. While there are already some steps being taken to rectify the situation, as shown in Congressional hearings on the issue of internet neutrality and the attempt to pass the Performance Rights Act, the current effect on individual bands is still negative. Some might say that if bands want to avoid the restrictions placed upon their music by signing with record labels, they should simply not enter into those contracts. I refute this claim and demonstrate why these covenants are necessary.
And they will be heavily featured, as I believe I am going to make them a case study. I'm writing this for a research-based writing class, and the first step in this assignment is a project proposal. So I wanted to know what you lovelies would think of it (both the proposal itself and the general idea of the paper to come). Questions? Comments? Ideas? I'd really like your feedback. Thanks! Also, I need a working title, so if anyone has a suggestion for that, I'd greatly appreciate it. I'm just blanking on that for some reason.
*insert clever title here*
For decades, the popular music industry has funded itself through the careful distribution of privately owned music. From vinyl records to 8-track tapes to cassette tapes to CDs, there has always been a tangible object that could be considered synonymous with the word “music.” However, over the past decade, there has been a great rise in the ability to transfer music digitally. By now, anyone who has access to the internet can potentially download any piece of music they desire at no cost. This has record labels scrambling to adapt to the new system, one which admittedly makes it difficult for them to generate any sort of significant revenue. The internet has essentially been the epicenter of a major earthquake that has shaken the music industry, and shock waves can be felt not only in the industry as a whole, but on the most micro of levels as well.
In this paper, I analyze the effects of the changing system of music distribution that have already occurred on both a large and small scale. I use the rock band OK Go, fronted by Damian Kulash, as a case study in why bands have ended up in the position they currently inhabit and how they are working to create a balance between existing labels and the new internet culture of music. “We’ve got this ridiculous situation,” says Kulash in “An Open Letter Regarding Non-Embeddable YouTube Videos,” “where the machinery of the old system is frantically trying to contort and reshape and rewire itself to run without actually selling music. It’s like a car trying to figure out how to run without gas, or a fish trying to learn to breath air.” So far, the industry has not taken the appropriate measures to reconfigure itself. Lawsuits are not uncommon, and only some parts of the world even have legal access to new music. Yet if the industry does not bend to the will of the times, it will inevitably collapse into itself like a dying star, and this could spell disaster for musicians and their fans everywhere.
Major labels need to rework their entire model from the ground up. I provide both a proposal for how they can accomplish this and analyze both the positive and negative effects it will have on them. While there are already some steps being taken to rectify the situation, as shown in Congressional hearings on the issue of internet neutrality and the attempt to pass the Performance Rights Act, the current effect on individual bands is still negative. Some might say that if bands want to avoid the restrictions placed upon their music by signing with record labels, they should simply not enter into those contracts. I refute this claim and demonstrate why these covenants are necessary.
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