The Difference between rhetorical and organizational revolution is in the code. by risa
speaking of things to help you rock out- I’d like to draw attention to just two more examples of the exponential and minutely diverse freedoms blossoming on the web. For access to free music, i’m delighted with Jamendo – they get the main thing right: the music always comes in well, i can find new sounds by browsing community tags, and their system, for artists, is simple and neat. Jamendo is a true open source inspired and enabled community. there’s some good fun in there already, and i bet it’ll get filled up with more as the idea of free music catches on, and as the site gets more perfectly translated into english and attracts independent artists from over here, across the pond.
Also worth a check out is Weedfiles and especially this powerful anti-war collection of songs by ChuckD, DEVO and more. i assume they were pretty powerful. their sound system didn’t work on my (linux) computer so well, it asked for an unavailable plugin. But I’m not mad, accessibility is really really mind-blowingly difficult on the web, and i’m sure they’ll get around to serving people like me soon. Until then, all you non-Linux users can probably rock out to the revolutionary sounds sans difficulty. And someday, I imagine, musicians, writers and actors will understand Conway’s observation about organizations and what it means: that revolutionary ideas are best served by revolutionary code and that truly revolutionary code is built in communication with major and minor (central and marginal) players.
and ok- full disclosure- i am co-founder of a slowly blossoming place that uses open source code to provide access to art- though on nowhere near the scale of these two aforementioned awesome operations. and secondly, i am also aware that using open source’s revolutionary rhetoric to push your software product or your website is getting stale. it’s hard not to get riled up about a system as big and exciting as open source (you could even spend a few years writing your thesis on it. if you were a total geek.) but all of us drawing from this well of ideas and tools that is open source code should remember to keep our hifalutin rhetoric to a minimum and to work hard on listening to people, and to that little voice inside that tells us that the world hasn’t changed much for the better yet, from most people’s perspectives. not to be a downer. i’m just saying. there’s work to be done, eh?
May 1st, 2006 at 10:46 am
I’m curious as to whether you’ve heard of “Pandora” (you probably have). I love it because it actually helps you discover new bands you’ll like based on a single song or artist.
I am all for these sorts of open share communities that help to spread the wealth of artistry. There are so many talented people out there, that it’s impossible to keep up with all of them…and so much of who gets how much exposure comes from appearance, marketing and luck.
And on a totally unrelated note, I’ve fallen in love with a band called MONORAL – they’re two former MTV Japan VJ’s who met up in Tokyo and decided to form their own band. They’re reminiscent of Coldplay, and all of their songs are in English…interesting considering their target audience is Japanese.
May 1st, 2006 at 12:22 pm
monoral sounds awesome. i’m gonna see if i can get me some of that. and i think bands that sing in english sometimes are smart. i think we should celebrate, not fear, a common language. esp if we can do that while we still continue to celebrate and speak in local languages, tying their knowledge in to common culture when we can/want to.
pandora looks awesome, sounds awesome, but has never worked for me. i don’t even get a pop up telling me i’m missing a plugin that is unavailable, it just never stops loading and the music player never comes in. very frustrating.
on another unrelated note- your writing about anime is awesome. if you ever want to guest post on open i would welcome that with open arms:) keep good. r.
May 4th, 2006 at 6:06 am
thank you for spreading the news !
we are always glad to hear from you abroad.
Jamendo
May 4th, 2006 at 11:02 am
thanks arnold, and thanks for passing me on to Amelie!
guess what, open readers? this little post has flourished and blossomed into an interview with the rockin’ geek stars behind Jamendo. I sent them a ridiculous wad of questions today- about how they got their site off the ground, and what they think about the future of the music industry, and stuff like that. so stay tuned, dears, should be a good one. cheers! r.