I just got back from another great CCsalon. They always have interesting subjects. The posting on their website went like this:

Creative Commons, KALW, and Chicago Public Radio’s Sound Opinions are pleased to present Chicago Tribune music critic and author Greg Kot in conversation with music journalist David Downs. Kot’s new book, Ripped: How the Wired Generation Revolutionized Music, explores the changing face of the music industry.
Greg will be doing a reading, talk, and book signing at the Booksmith on Haight St. in San Francisco. Friday, October 16th, 7:30 pm. If you are able to make it to see him I am sure you will enjoy it.

I did enjoy it. The conversation between David & Greg had a great flow. Here are some of the parts of the conversation I found interesting:

“Great art is made on the fringes.”

Music is becoming a loss leader – bands should treat it that way! Many are starting to use it as a tool. There are plenty of record labels that give music away freely. This publicity translates in to concerts & other streams of revenue. Bands should be willing to give up control in exchange for money. Creative artists have so many ways to put their stuff out there.

“How come no one notices my music?”Greg rhetorically asked. T which he answered back “does it suck?” The internet provides you with so many tools to get you noticed. If you are putting yourself out there & nobody cares; there may be a reason.

There was a fair amount of dicussion on the recent music history. Danger Mouse’s The Grey Album – a combination of Jay-Z’s The Black Album & the The Beatles’ White Album. It had great critical success. No one really heard it though, because EMI used the courts to block it. The people that were lucky enough to hear it – felt the need to (re)discover The Beatles & their music. This could have been a great way for EMI to sell more music. (Some of this story is also in Good Copy Bad Copy GCBC. Today Danger Mouse is part of Gnarls Barkley.)

The music industry is killing some creativity. The mash-up culture is just another way to create. There are risks of course (like being sued.) There are also those that take chances & make it. Another is DJ Girl Talk. He can have dozens of samples in just one song.You can freely download his music on the internet. He makes money from performing. At one point he was a biomedical engineer, he quit in 2007 to focus solely on music. Great example of how mash-up music can pay the bills.

The audience was encouraged to take a stand on net neutrality & speak up be heard.

Greg also talked about how Google maybe headed the wrong way. They are heading towards being the gateway of everyone’ information. This subject was very interesting & could have been a few hours in itself. Oh well, I guess I am going to have to get the book & read some more about it.

It was held at PariSoMa a coworking space in San Francisco.