The Wired Magazine article on watermarking is scary. There are certain days that I wished I wore tinfoil hats because I’d get paranoid an all. I could roll my eyes like Mel Gibson. I would feel alive. The recent discussion of watermarking would have been one of those days.

Mathew Ingram also had a comment, What if everything was watermarked? A quote:

I’m trying to imagine a world in which every piece of content was watermarked in some way. What would happen to mashups? How would it affect the principle of fair use? Would Internet service providers start to block specific activity on the Web based on whether a watermark was detected? And would the DMCA-driven “take it down first and ask questions later” policy extend to virtually every kind of content?

And then he mentioned the “Amen break.” That is brilliant.

The linked YouTube video if great. The juxtaposition that Mathew Ingram created is worthy of the Tin Foil Hat Award. If one exists. Which it doesn’t. I’m just staying… Or not.
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Sometimes Booms are good. Sometimes Booms are bad. Why do I think of Nuke LaLoosh as I write that?

The Economist, in the article, From major to minor, details three ‘vicious circles’ that are tearing apart sale of music:

First, because sales of CDs are tumbling, big retailers such as Wal-Mart are cutting the amount of shelf-space they give to music, which in turn accelerates the decline.

Second, because the majors are cutting costs severely, particularly at EMI and Warner Music, artists are receiving far less marketing and promotional support than before, which could prompt them to seek alternatives.

Third, record companies face such hostile conditions that their backers, whether private equity or corporations, are loth to spend the sums required to move into the bits of the music industry that are thriving, such as touring and merchandising.

These points are all true. The labels failed to adapt. They are getting rapidly disintermediated. I like that term. It sounds so clinical. Of course, it’s so easy to blame the labels.

Artists have to accept some responsibility, too. Very few bands, writers or other artists have adopted effective web-based strategies. Instead, they simple replicate the merchandizing strategies of live performances on the web. Buy our CDs. Buy our T-shirts. Do writers even offer t-shirts?

Web strategies require consistent use of fresh content. Interestingly, most bands only provide fresh content with they release new albums. Most writers, when the publish a new book. Most won’t commit to something like a blog.

I have a theory that e-mail did this. After getting swamped by e-mail and hiding from that sense of obligation, what artist would want to try to build connections? They assume that it takes so much time and yet provides so little benefit. That is the truth of e-mail. More declaratory formats of communication, such as blogs, are much different. They take less time, and can be much more beneficial.

Mathew Ingram has a wonderful blog. He linked to this article. He provide frequent comments that would interest any artist trying to understand the web as a business tool.