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Blog: Catalysts & Connections

DRM, Payola, and the music industry

Here’s a label that would be interesting to see on CDs in your favorite music store. In case you missed all the news on SONY’s DRM disaster read up here or here. Speaking of the music industry, in NY last year many public school music programs received a box of CDs from the state attorney Elliot Spitzer’s office as a result of a settlement with various music labels for collusion to overcharge for CDs. That’s not the only case of… Read More »DRM, Payola, and the music industry

Music Education and Classical Music

Scottish composer James MacMillan recently wrote a scathing article about what he called the “dumbing down” of a new music syllabus in Scotland. In his discussion of “serious music” ,and “popular culture” he calls for a renewal of challenging the notion that “there is no meaningful difference between high art and low art”. An article written in response reiterated some of MacMillan’s ideas and offered other opinions on the syllabus. The discussion of what is or is not “serious music,… Read More »Music Education and Classical Music

From Conscious Hip Hop to Racism in the Jazz Age….

How has music education dealt with hip hop culture or rap music let alone issues of race and class when discussing listenership? Baakari Kitwana author of the recent book “Why White Kids Love Hip Hop”wrote a recent article in the Village Voice that looked at the fact that most “conscious” hip hop shows ( non-commercial and politically progressive) are attended predominantly by white youth. Some people might observe that more often than not, there tends to be a disassociation between… Read More »From Conscious Hip Hop to Racism in the Jazz Age….

The Mixtape in 2005….

Was John Cage really a DJ at heart? Whether or not Cage was making a very very old (school) mixtape, mixtape culture is ubiquitous. Though now in different forms , people still love sharing their own mixtapes. Do you know what your students would put on their own mixtapes or (CDs)/playlists/MP3blogs/Audioscrobblers? Why not find out? It might be interesting to collect all of our students lists and compile them to see if we can paint some kind of picture of… Read More »The Mixtape in 2005….

Breaking it down with the BBC….

Having trouble holding back the excitement of students wanting to remix their latest composition project with world news? Have no fear, the BBC is here to save the day! Even the UK Penguin book publising company is appropriating remix culture. The UK is not the only country holding remix contests. The CC Mixter based in the US is taking full advantage of creative commons licensing and has already held successful contests and continues to encourage people to remix the available… Read More »Breaking it down with the BBC….