Moldover Gives People A Reason To Buy His CD By Turning The Case Into An Instrument

from the rock-out dept

Another day, another example of a musician not freaking out about "piracy" but looking to create innovative reasons to actually buy something. The latest is the artist Moldover, who not only learned how to build circuit boards that display the album artwork and spell out the song titles, but he actually turned the CD case itself into a fully functional instrument. Check it out:

It has a button that makes sound, and then you can adjust the sound via light sensor that creates a virtual theremin. On top of that, it has a line-out jack, that lets you listen quietly, or record music via the CD case itself.

It seems like every day we see new and different examples of artists coming up with cool reasons to actually buy product. While some critics insist that these sorts of things only work once, I tend to believe that creativity knows no bounds, and we'll keep seeing more and more unique ideas.

36 Comments | Leave a Comment..

Canadians Figure Out How To Properly Release A CD

from the maybe-they-read-techdirt dept

There's a really simple strategy for bands who are worried about the "threat" of file sharing: embrace and add value. That means not freaking out about file sharing, recognizing it's going to happen anyway... and then coming up with ways to add value so that fans will want to pay you anyway. Back in July, Canadian band Stars battled the digital leak of its latest album, In Our Bedroom after the War, by releasing the digital version of their album 3 months early, thereby giving their fans a legitimate path to obtain the already leaked album. Rather than fret about how this would "hurt" them, as the actual release date approaches on September 25th, the band decided to give their fans a reason to buy the physical CD -- they're including a limited edition DVD that chronicles the the band's tour. It's fantastic to see glimmers of hope in the music industry -- from Hip Hop Artists to Trent Reznor. Perhaps soon the music industry will wake up and embrace the changes that are happening to them. At least they're trying now.

65 Comments | Leave a Comment..

Who Cares How Many Discs Counterfeit Operation Could Have Made?

from the why-focus-on-that? dept

Information Week is reporting on two men who were sentenced to jail for what is being called the "largest CD and DVD pirating scheme to be prosecuted in the United States." From the evidence, it certainly sounds like these guys were counterfeiting all sorts of music, movies and software, so there's nothing wrong with them being caught, found guilty and punished. What I do find interesting, however, is how the various industry associations have been spinning this story (and how the press is accepting it without question). Since these guys were arrested, the story has been how they had equipment that could have made 300 million pirated CDs and DVDs. Note the "could have" part. Because, in reality, authorities only seized a bit less than half a million. It's still significant, but it's less than 0.2% (not 2%, but 0.2%) of what's going in the headlines. In theory, any DVD/CD burner could produce millions of counterfeit discs -- but that's not news. Why is it news in this case?

Of course, this is par for the course for the industry. Remember when the RIAA wanted to count high speed CD burners as multiple burners in trying to boost the size of a bust it made? Or when the MPAA claimed they seized $30 million worth of DVDs when in turned out to only be about $10,000? It seems they like to blow these things out of proportion with big, totally unsubstantiated numbers. Of course, that lets them make the laughable claim that each of these busts is "a significant blow" against piracy when nothing can be further from the truth. In fact, as we've seen, all these CD/DVD counterfeiting shops are facing a much more "significant blow" from the competition from free downloads. Yet, of course, the Information Week piece carries a quote saying that "It cannot be understated how significant it has been." Actually, I'd say it's been significantly overstated.

21 Comments | Leave a Comment..