A Justin Bieber Movement We All Can Agree On!

Congress is at their anti-music freedom antics again. Does the corrupted ever sleep?! Plus, this is looking like it could sweep anyone off of YouTube cover fame, including Justin Bieber.

It's S. 978, the bill that can lock up folks for up to five years for using copyrighted material on the Web. OpenCongress summarizes it like this:

The Commercial Felony Streaming Act (S. 978) makes unauthorized web streaming of copyrighted content a felony with a possible penalty of up to 5 years in prison. Illegal streaming of copyrighted content is defined in the bill as an offense that "consists of 10 or more public performances by electronic means, during any 180-day period, of 1 or more copyrighted works" and has a total economic value, either to the copyright holder or the infringer, of at least $2,500.

While I feel like Justin Bieber should not be as popular as he actually is - in fact I would give him Jeff Cohen's fame over Sean Astin's fame (or as much as I could relate his musical content to Sloth from The Goonies as possible) - he should not be locked up for covering his favorite songs. Neither should Karmin, Greyson Chance or Melanie Fiona.

Thanks to the open-ended language of this bill, three hots and a cot for five years can go to not only YouTubers but to Tweeters, Facebook(ers), MySpace(rs), Google+ers, Pandora(ers), AmazonCloud(ers), GrooveShark(ers), SoundCloud(ers), folks who own iPhones, Androids and email accounts because it's the sharing of streaming media that could be illegal.

Thinking about it, and maybe stretching it a little, bumping the stream of the Danny Brown and Black Milk album on speaker phones and then someone joins in on the tunes could come with a five-year sentence. How awesome is that?!

Here's another slightly-stretched scenario: those who want to make their own variation of The Wobble, The Wu-Tang, The Artichoke, or whatever the hot new dance craze can get the silver bracelets too. Oh, and that cute video of the eight-year-old singing Nicki Minaj's "Super Bass?" Illegal.

While the pressure to protect artists from other people making money off of streaming music without the artist's permission is understandable, the impulsive extremity of this act is foolish. If someone were to steal anything I've written off this blog and post it on their sites as their words, I would be pissed. However, to do it with an adoration for my voice (and attribution), or to do it on the grounds of some editing of some sort, I would understand.

Here's what's being done. Fight for the Future has launched a Free Bieber campaign and a petition people can sign to stop the bill from going forth. Once you visit FreeBieber.org, the petition will pop up asking for your email address. The petition is spread throughout the website as well.

The idea of penalizing folks like Karmin, Beiber, etc for the same reasons (and then some) is radical. Given most musicians feel like they are as good as - if not better - than the next man, most folks who cover other artists do not look to profit off of their adoration. More than likely, they want to place themselves in their favorite artist's shoes in their covers. Show me a band that wants to purely profit off of covering another artist, and I'll show you the Wiz Khalifa costume Billy Gardell (Mike from Mike & Molly) plans on wearing this Halloween weekend.

The Amazon Cloud, A First of Its Kind

Before I begin typing up praises for this new venture, let me say that although I am an Amazon Associate this blog post is NOT being forced by Amazon. Now, unto my blog post...

Now, if you are a loyal Amazon shopper for music then this will come as the best news since they started selling digital music. If you are a loyal Amazon shopper for music with a small hard drive or a nearly-full hard drive then this will come as the best news since you found out about the internet. According to their website, Amazon has become the first music store to have a cloud drive and player for the digital music you purchase!

This is big for several reasons. The best and most obvious benefit of the cloud drive and player is that it takes up NO space on your computer, not even an app or software to install it. Everything (I repeat, everything!) is stored in their datacenters and all you need is a URL (plus your Amazon username and password for purchasing purposes) to access it. Another reason why this is beneficial is because the enjoyment doesn't end at your computer: with an Android-supported system, you can have full access to your music collection to-go on your phone or tablet.

An iType of SIDENOTE: Amazon has not officially made this supportive for Apple/iOS products. However, there is a way that Apple lovers can enjoy this too. According to GeekWord, users must download iCab Mobile on their iPod/Phone/Pad. In the browser, change the Browser ID to Safari 5 (Mac), convincing the cloud that it's not Mobile Safari, and you're in there like swimwear! For more in-depth info, check out the Amazon workaround guide on Mashable and cut to "Alternative Two: iCab to the Rescue." Sorry webOS, nothing's available!

To kick things off on the right foot, Amazon is giving away five FREE gigabytes of storage on the cloud drive, so get started now!

Oh, and once you open your cloud drive be sure to purchase music from my Amazon aStore! It's been updated with the latest and greatest music available on Amazon.

Public Radio & TV (De)funded??? UPDATE: NPR Defunded.

It seems like whenever publicly-ran entities take one step forward, the next move will bring them two giant leaps back... What a stinking rollercoaster public radio has been on!

Remember the post about the Local Community Radio Act Passed? Well, weeks later there's been a blow to keeping public media alive. February 19, the House has passed a bill that cuts ALL financing for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting for the year 2013, according to a report from the New York Times. While President Obama is trying to increase funding for the CPB, $6 mill increase according to NY Times, "a collective $75.8 million for other public media initiatives, like the Dept. of Education's Ready to Learn Program, was eliminated from the President's budget."

Does the Corporation for Public Broadcasting sound familiar? (HINT: you might hear it at the end of every show on PBS or NPR) Well, CPB is responsible for a chunk of PBS' and NPR's funding. This includes such amazing broadcasts as All Songs Considered, World Cafe, hell, even Arthur and The Diane Rehm Show!!!

While small town public radio has protection with the latest Local Community Radio Act, big-time national public radio and TV is about to suffer! Sure, things can change between now and 2013 (including the whole 2012 thing), but the last thing we need is the process in eliminating radio and TV that has always been for the people. Think of how many times news was broke thanks to NPR? How much you learned from the oh-so-neighborly Mister Rodgers? Happy Trees, anyone? Let's not talk about Reading Rainbow.... And then radio: although NPR itself is enough to lose, what about the massive amounts of job creation that came from NPR (also the ample internship programs provided by them)? A cut from the government's funding would harm the hell out of public radio!

NPR isn't sitting quietly on this issue. While an NPR exec has been caught in a sting video saying that eventually public media will be better off without federal funding, the PMA (an initiative between NPR and the Association of Public Television Stations) has shown outrage regarding the House bill. "To dismantle a public broadcasting system that 170 million Americans regularly rely on for lifelong learning, in-depth news and public affairs programming, and world class - all for the sake of reducing one year's federal budget deficit by less than three thousandths of one percent - is to recklessly defy the will of the American people, who routinely rank public broadcasting just behind national defense as the best use of taxpayer dollars," PMA President Patrick Butler said on NPR's website.

Although there is some truth in the possibility of public media without federal funding, it is scary to see how fast Congress is pulling out assistance from corporate public entities like CPB, NPR and PBS. It's like when it comes to eliminating funds - even if it's 3/1000 of 1% of the federal budget deficit that is dedicated toward educational and cultural programming - the government is becoming a bit too scissor-happy for things the people value the most.

Fortunately, you can act now by signing a petition made by MoveOn.org that states "Congress must protect NPR and PBS and guarantee them permanent funding, free from political meddling."

UPDATE 03/17/11 at 3:28 p.m.: TODAY, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES VOTED 228-192 TO BAR NPR FROM RECEIVING ANY MORE FEDERAL FUNDS. MORE HERE!

Oh, and by the way, All Songs has been streaming outrageously amazing performances and uploading some of the best video footage from SXSW so broke-arses like me can witness the glorious festivities. Yeah.

Local Community Radio Act PASSED!!!

It's good to see community radio don't have to go through hoops no more!

Well, at least this act is settled (unlike H.R.848 "The Performance Rights Act" I blogged about way back when)!

I check out the Prometheus Radio Project frequently, and they broke it to me that Congress has finally passed  S.592, the Local Community Radio Act. According to their press release, the House and Senate has given the FCC a mandate for thousands of new community stations nationwide.

Sounds great, right? Right!

Why? Because it's a win for the little guy, of course, but also is a win for the home team (whoever yours may be). For about ten years, since the Radio Broadcast Preservation Act, small town radio has suffered under the shrinking dial frequency thanks to big corporate radio stations wanting to minimize use of the spectrum for their own gain, claiming interference (which ended up being a claimed disproved by a Congress-mandated study in 2003).

The new bill is waiting for President Obama's signature. According to Pitchfork, it does state that approval of the FCC must be "based on the needs of the local community," and that restrictions are in place to prevent applicants from getting a low power FM license if he or she has violated section 301 of the Communication Act of 1934.

The most awesome thing about the Local Community Radio Act is that this could possibly lead to more media job creation! Your girl needs a job, and is not afraid to step into the booth as a radio jockey. The world needs Bubble Gum Pop Rap on the airwaves, right? Wouldn't that be dope! Seriously, this could create more jobs in a starving market, so journalists and folks who love the radio should rejoice as Congress has done something amazing for once!

This wouldn't be right if I didn't shout out the following local radio stations in Atlanta that I always listen to when I'm in the car or near the frequency box!!!

WRFG 89.3 - Radio Free Georgia, man oh man. It plays a little bit of everything progressive-wise, including REAL experimental music, REAL bluegrass and country, and REAL hiphop music, and also very helpful and resourceful talk shows (not the crappy sensationalizing talk shows that scare the bejeebus out of folks just to tune them in on a permanent basis). I especially like their hiphop show Beats & Lyrics, plus their late night shows... which isn't what you think at all. I promise.

WRAS 88.5 - Album 88 is a radio station based at Georgia State University in downtown Atl. The thing I like about them is that they play what's hot in the blogosphere and in the community. It's a great place to hear local bands, indie bands, and whatever other music stuff that's considered hipster. I'm no hipster, but everytime I tune in, I always have a "THAT'S MY ISH RIGHT THERE!" moment. The thing I can't stand is that it's the ONLY radio station around that plays the atypical music.

WREK 91.1 - Georgia Tech's station is a station I tune into from time to time. I caught wind of it when they had a F' Action hour, which was interesting considering it was a Sunday evening. I always find something dope on Saturday nights on the road to a show or something, as they always have some crazy Techno or Drum & Bass record going crazy. Ultimately, they always play some jazz or big band record that keeps me tuned in.

There are a couple more stations that I like, or at least keep on my dial until I buck up and change to V-103 or Hot1079 or one of the old school stations. But the classic rock station The River, alternative rock stations 99x and Project 9-6-1 do keep me occupied when absolutely nothing else is on the radio. I hope this new Local Community Radio Act forms more local stations here in the A that provide more voices to this city.

The Illuminati Strikes Back!

It seems like "the machine" can get a little sens-y-tive! *cues inner child, waves hips side to side*

After years of conspiracy theories surrounding the success of music stars, and a rapid increase in the past year, rappers like Kanye West, Jay-Z, and Rick Ross have made public responses about swirling rumors of their membership to the club of the All-Seeing Eye.

There have been many of posts siting symbols of various secret societies in music videos, performances, and public photos - from angled shots to the peace sign. Most of these are composed as montages of symbols and lyrics made by musicians, politicians, and celebrities associated with freemasonry and the Illuminati.

Like this one:



At first, it seems rappers kept quiet to these allegations. Well, it's something that is supposed to happen, as it is a secret society. In other words, they can't say they're in the Illuminati. But recently, they have fired back at allegations by poking fun at it.

In my review of Rick Ross's album Teflon Don, he recruits Jay-Z and John Legend in a song called "Free Mason." This song is filled with references to signs that the New World Order conspiracy is true, and sarcastic remarks of them being involved. Their main argument? That they have become successful from working hard for what they got. Jay's one-line killer is this one here: "Bitch, I said I was amazing... not that I'm a Mason," cleverly verbally illustrating the type of ammo theorists use to tie him and other musicians to the secret societies. Hear the song for yourself:

Rick Ross, "Free Mason" Ft. Jay-Z by gardnerz

Recently, there has been an outcry of suspicion in the video/painting "Power" by Kanye West, where the various images align ever-so-nicely with images associated with the Illuminati. Take this one for example from Media TakeOut:

This close-up of Kanye standing in the hallway of the building, and the two warriors touching swords complete the image of the freemasonry.

Another suggestion of Illuminati symbolism in his video is a little more complicated, and quite frankly involves math that I don't want to do. Luckily, thanks to the oh so skeptical Internet users, someone has already took the time out to form another tie from Kanye West and his new visual to the All-Seeing Eye.

Aside from the angles pointed out in the close-up, there is another angle pointed out in the entire photo. Here is the same shot but panned out:

See, they even drew-in the Eye just to make their point. Kinda weird, isn't it?

Other images from the video include the act of blasphemy with the two women (a way to get in the society), the goat-women who look just like Baphomet, the god in this group, and the imagery similar to the dollar. I am not just making this up on my own, people, this is just reports of what I've seen floating around the Web.

I would much rather have you watch the video, and see if you find these images:

The troubling thing about this is that I haven't talked about ALL allegations of famous people in secret societies! Now, I'm merely reporting what I see and what I've heard from everyday people. I have yet to include my opinion in any part of this piece. But doesn't this freak you out? I can tell you that I surely am!

Cell Therapy 029

So last night, as I typed in imeem.com as an attempt to listen to my Josh Groban playlist, I get redirected to the MySpace Music page. WTF IS UP WITH THAT?????

I begin perusing the MySpace site, along with failed but blind attempts at visiting the Imeem site (not to mention both of their Twitter pages), and found out through their Twitters that MySpace has acquired Imeem, and no one can use Imeem's stuff, including their embedded playlists, videos, songs, etc.

Like OMG!

So I gathered these thoughts and new information in my head and came to the ultimate urban conclusion that Imeem sold the F*** out of the online music community to the ultimate creep-infested MySpace!

Imeem sold out. Imeem just up and left its users - no email, press release, no warning, no nothing - like a dead beat. There were no news of negotiations even, just nothing!

We few, we happy few who looked past the 30-second previews and five-second ad interruptions Imeem gave us are now disappointed as we can't accept this change of scenery. The ease of embedding music onto our blogs, Facebook, MySpace calmed our nerves because people knew those songs and videos and playlists were awesome (not to mention it made the user look hella smart and tech savvy)! We enjoyed listening to a playlist full of all the music our favorite artists made. We loved singing along to songs with the lyrics someone posted in the comment section of the song's page. And we were always flattered to know whenever someone favorited our playlists.

So yes, I am an angry user of Imeem's online media service. Imeem and MySpace claim everything will be back to normal once Imeem transfers everything to MySpace...

THERE IS NOTHING NORMAL ABOUT MYSPACE!!!

As I make attempts at redo-ing my embedded music on this very blog, let alone other sites I used Imeem's services on, I cry. Not only because it's a lot of crap I put on this and other sites, but because the every song and playlist I remove tears out a piece of my music-loving soul.

*sniff sniff*

R.I.P. Imeem 2003-2009 (although MySpace ultimately killed you, you killed yourself by selling out)