www.artistsagainstpiracy.com
Artists Against Piracy www.artistsagainstpiracy.com
Most consumers love Napster and the free access it provides to
downloadable music, but nowadays the question of its legitimacy
threatens to put the network and others like it to an end.
According to the music artists, the activity in Napster violates
their rights because it is a proven fact that they are not being
compensated in any way for the songs that are downloaded over the
Web. In an effort to get the same people who are using sites such
as Napster to understand the artists’ position on the issue,
a group of over 70 well-known artists have formed a coalition,
“Artists Against Piracy,” and have just recently
launched a corresponding Web site, artistsagainstpiracy.com. The
group, which involves artists from all genres of music such as
Alanis Morissette, Blink-182, Christina Aguilera, DMX, Garth
Brooks, Sarah McLachlan and Sisqo, is designed to give artists a
voice in what happens to their music on the Net. Currently the
group is launching an advertising campaign in most popular
magazines. The Web site is comprehensive and includes information
dedicated to presenting the artists side of the debate of MP3s. Of
somewhat initial irony, a link titled “Downloads” is
provided on the site ““ however, the downloads provided are
not MP3s, but wallpaper images promoting the site. A news link is
also provided that connects viewers to a wide range of articles
that have been written on the issue from magazines such as
“Spin” as well as letters from supporters of the
movement. The site isn’t just about presenting pro-artist
propaganda to site-goers. Various forums are also available with
such titles as “What’s Legal Online” and
“Artists and the Internet” for viewers to voice their
opinions on the topic, as well as respond to others who have posted
a message. An instant poll is also available for viewers to voice
their opinions on the question of the day. Links are provided to
the Web sites of all artists who support “Artists Against
Piracy,” in addition to links for all other company
supporters of the site such as the Recording Industry Association
of America and My Play. An informative site which furthers the
public awareness crusade for which the group strongly believes in,
artistsagainstpiracy.com hopes to use the same medium from which
their songs are being downloaded to launch a campaign against
it.
Barbara McGuire Rating: 7
Click Radio www.clickradio.com
Live, streaming and interactive are words that pop into
one’s mind when they think of a music site, right? Not so
fast. ClickRadio.com is a site that delivers to its listeners free
radio-style music to download from the Net and listen to offline.
Gasp! Many college students haven’t even seen the light of
day since the inception of streamlined sites that allow users to
listen to radio stations live. The objective at clickradio.com is
to create better sounding music stations, catering to listeners
with slow connections. The site believes the music will be played
offline anyway, so why not make it accessible until the user is
off-line? The downfall of this site seems to be that while one can
personalize what type of music they want to hear, they also
download songs they may not want. Of course, that happens to be a
drawback with many radio stations. Additionally, Napster and
Macster are so accessible and user-friendly that the notion of not
having the exclusive choice of what music you download is not very
appealing. Alas, one perk to ClickRadio.com is that users can vote
Siskel and Ebert-style by giving thumbs up or down to a song, thus
encouraging the site to play it more often. For what it’s
worth, this site is a day late and a dollar short when it comes to
music accessibility.
Sarah Monson Rating: 3
The Crosswalk www.thecrosswalk.com
Here’s a story one rarely hears. A young, eager band with
something deep and meaningful to sing about gets signed, records an
album and with dreams just starting to come true, gets released
from their contract before their beloved album hits the stores. Oh
wait, that happens every day. So why has one such band, The
Crosswalk, created a Web site where the public can listen to their
music and vote on whether or not they should release their album
without a major label, or let it die a quiet death? Was that knife
not stuck deep enough into their back? The whole hullabaloo began
when Hollywood Records released The Crosswalk from their contract.
Allegedly, the lyrics to the songs were just too naughty to be put
out by the label. Perhaps they are just poorly written. Along with
downloading their songs to be voted on, you can also read the
lyrics. Which is what I had to do, because birthing a small whale
while reading Nietzchean treatises would have been an easier
endeavor than downloading the required listening devices one needs
to hear the band’s songs on the Web site. For a site vying
for positive votes, thecrosswalk.com leaves a lot to be desired.
It’s hard to navigate and a little messy ““ and the
mediocre graphics and cheesy logo don’t help. Sure, it may be
gallant to take a stand and make a stink about being jilted, but it
just wouldn’t be Hollywood without the painful scars and
tormented souls.
Sarah Monson Rating: 1