Category: Music

Lawrence Lessig: Is It Impossible To Imagine Lawyers On The Side Of Innovation?

Not impossible to imagine, Lawrence, just very difficult. To most recording artists I know, the lawyer is the person who hides the truth in the legalese contained in the contract. The truth that you can sell a million records, and still owe the label money. I had some friends asked to sign a recording contract, they went and hired their own lawyer to look it over, who told them “it looks good to me.” A relative of the band, not a lawyer but with some experience in contractual law, looked at it and tore it up on sight. It signed…

My daughter Malia and I went to the Na Hoku Hanohano Awards (Hawai’i’s equivalent of the Grammys) last week, and h

My daughter Malia and I went to the Na Hoku Hanohano Awards (Hawai’i’s equivalent of the Grammys) last week, and had a blast. Malia is onstage (black dress and glasses) with some of Hawai’i finest singing “Hawai’i Aloha” at the closing of the awards. Others in the picture include Palani Vaughn, Sean Na’auao, Skylark Rosetti, Frank Kawaikapuokalani Hewett, Darlene Ahuna, and Larry Kimura.

In other music-related news, my favorite Canadian band,

In other music-related news, my favorite Canadian band, Great Big Sea, recently released a new CD, Sea of No Cares. I’m enjoying it thoroughly, though it didn’t blow my socks of on the first listen as much as their live ‘Road Rage’ release did. It’s definitely a progression for them from their other studio efforts. Highly recommended.

A funny thing happened on the way to my boycott of the music industry…

A funny thing happened on the way to my boycott of the music industry… I rediscovered Elvis Costello. Well maybe ‘rediscovered’ is an odd choice of words… When we were in high school, my younger brother played Elvis incessantly. I didn’t think much of him as a singer, musician, or songwriter. Maybe I disliked him just because my brother liked him so much. Also, I was more into Hawaiian and contemporary acts from Hawai’i like Cecilio & Kapono, Olomana and Kalapana at the time. A few weeks ago I caught Elvis on Bravo’s “Musician” series, and really enjoyed listening to…

DaveNet: Monoculture, an Artifact of the 20th Century? Pretty interesting stuff, and it got me really thinking about my relationship with the recording industry.

DaveNet: Monoculture, an Artifact of the 20th Century? Pretty interesting stuff, and it got me really thinking about my relationship with the recording industry. Formerly loyal record/tape/CD buyers like me are getting fed up with the recording industry’s shenanigans, and looking for alternatives. I’ve discovered a number of Celtic acts over the past year or so, though some of them are pretty well known within the genre. But one of the most enjoyable was a CD by an artist I found playing in a little Irish pub in Waikiki, of all places. He recorded it at a friend’s house, and…

I just saw my first Hawai’i CD adorned with a sticker that said “Will not play on PC/Mac.” Of course I did not buy it, and would encourage others to boycott it as well

I just saw my first Hawai’i CD adorned with a sticker that said “Will not play on PC/Mac.” Of course I did not buy it, and would encourage others to boycott it as well. Fortunately it was one of those compilations that I abhor, and contained nothing that I would have wanted anyway. Wake up guys. Once a single person figures out how to crack these encryption schemes the songs will be up on Morpheus and whatever Napster replacements are out there, so all you are doing is pissing off people like me who do buy CDs and like to…

Lawmaker: Is CD copy-protection illegal? “On Friday, Rep.

Lawmaker: Is CD copy-protection illegal? “On Friday, Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Va., sent a letter to executives of the recording industry’s trade association, asking whether anti-piracy technology on CDs might override consumers’ abilities to copy albums they have purchased for personal use. A 1992 law allows music listeners to make some personal digital copies of their music.” These clowns can’t have it both ways. They’re either going to have to abandon copy protected CDs or give up the royalites they get on blank media. Tell ’em Keola says so.

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