Payola, in the American music industry, is the illegal practice of payment or other inducement by record companies for the broadcast of recordings on music radio, in which the song is presented as being part of the normal day's broadcast. Under US law, 47 U.S.C. § 317, a radio station can play a specific song in exchange for money, but this must be disclosed on the air as being sponsored airtime, and that play of the song should not be counted as a "regular airplay." The term has come to refer to any secret payment made to cast a product in a positive light (such as obtaining positive reviews). - Wikipedia

I just realized something. The same record labels today that are bending over backwards to keep all their music from places like YouTube used to "illegally" pay to get their artists played on radio stations. Payola. Pay to play. Pay for promotion. Now, if I make a video and use one of their artists, even giving credit to that artist, shouldn't I be allowed to do that since I am freely promoting the artist, which could make money for the record label? Granted, it'd probably only make money for the record label because their take is so high, artists barely make a dime. But that's not this rant. This rant is about how the record industry is now greedy hypocrites out of step and out of time.

But how could I say this? Isn't using material without permission stealing? Not everything is a yes or no answer. I've been using other people's music and, before I could shoot my own, other people's video to create things. Do you know how often somebody says, "I like that music. Who is it?" Since I almost always point out who did the music in the video, I am a slightly stunned when people ask, but I am more than happy to tell them who did the music. More often, it's a Charlie Terrell song they're asking about. And lately, Tom Waits. This may not be the same promotion as an ad in the super bowl exposing these artists to millions, but what's wrong with adding one more fan one at a time?

If I were making a penny from these videos, I'd say it's stealing. But I don't make a penny, half penny, or even a wheat penny. I do this because I like making videos, like the music, and like adding the music to the video. We can not let the pushers kill the art.  ¶ 9:55 PM

 
Morning Snow from A Musing Propaganda on Vimeo.

On February 28th, it finally snowed here. I shot as much as I could, but it was cold that morning. And by afternoon, the snow was all gone. The video is sped up to 400% and the music, "Fifteen Feet of Pure White Snow" is by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds.

Source: MinDV 620 x 480i 24 fps exported to 720p HD, Quicktime MP4, H.264, 24 fps, Frame Distance 30, Frame Recording On, Deinterlace On, Bitrate 3,120 kbits/sec.  ¶ 9:53 PM

 

On Saturday, February 28th, 2009, it finally snowed again. I can't even remember the last time it snowed. I took some photos and shot as much video as I could. Video will come later.

Note: I did replace the frozen cat's water.

Picasa Gallery for larger images.  ¶ 5:32 PM

 
February Storm from A Musing Propaganda on Vimeo.

We've had some severe weather in the month of February. During a flash flood/thunderstorm, I went out and shot some video with my camera, tripod, and umbrella. Everything here is at 400% speed.

The song is "Motel Monologue" by Charlie Terrell from his album, Taking the Jesus Pill.

Source: MinDV 620 x 480i 24 fps exported to 720p HD, Quicktime MP4, H.264, 24 fps, Frame Distance 30, Frame Recording On, Deinterlace On, Bitrate 3,120 kbits/sec.  ¶ 3:48 PM