by Mingus Casey
Self-Inflict Magazine, 2004
"In the year 3030 everyone wanna be a..."
- Deltron 3030
Music is expression of creativity, it is a uniquely human skill. Some have argued that music is inate, others, that it is learnt.
Regardless, it can be as powerful as any other art form.
However, presently, and for most of last century, music has been in the wrong place, with multinational corporations controlling the sound.
For many years, music has been another way for multinational corporations to make money, by exploiting human creativity.
It's time to take the power back.
Music has been a part of human culture since the dawn of time, and it has never been so commercialised as it is in this century.
Dating back thusands of years, music has been a prime method of relaxation, enjoyment, and the spread of ideas. However, in the past, this involved groups of people gathering to make noise.
Currently, what music is to the mainstream is, is a cd's worth of tracks by extremely "popular" artists, for the most part, paid for by hard earnt cash from people who cannot necessarily afford it.
Historically, the control of music by the media and corporations, and the "select" few large music producers has only really birthed last century, with recording and copying facilities.
Prior to this point, "musicians" were ordinary people. I do not call myself a "musician".
People would gather, all music was live, and it revolved around the community.
My vision is to go backwards forwards.
I see a potential future, where with the aid of a personal computer, microphone, instruments, audio software, or any combination of the above tools, it can become possible, and even normal, for groups of people to come together and jam.
I would hope that even though technology has pushed us away from the jam ethos as a culture, now, thorugh more technology, we can complete the circle.
We should't need this technology to regain what has been lost, but, through this technology, and piracy, it is possible.
I want to see a day where music produciton is no longer a secret art reserved for the select few, but rather an intrinsic part of every person. Now that the means for sound duplication are within everyone's grasp, there is no longer a need to support massive corporations.
We should no longer pay for music, but rather share it, spreading it as widely as we can. There are more important things than buying the latest pop star's cd - world starvation is a perfect example.
There are better things to do than waste money on commercial music, supporting your local music scene is a great example.
The mainstream population may not want to be a part of this, but noone should be denied the option.
For me, music is freedom, and making music is like breaking the chains that bind.
A recording studio in every house, and access to all the music you want. A free music industry. After all, how can you charge for something intangible? Music does not feed, it does not shelter, and yet there is money used on music that could go to far better uses.
Don't buy music, buy hardware, or food, or shelter.
Neither Beethoven or Mozart needed multinational coporate support to be heard, so why should anyone?
The ony people who are afraid of this, and the massive expansion in domestic scene's it would create, are the record companies.
In summary, I hope that the computer infrastructure that has been created in this country will lead to a great deal of independant music.
I hope for a day when there is a secret underground recording studio on every street, and gatherings of underground musicians everywhere.