Peace Through Music

Since I started this blog, I've been trying to find what it is about music that connects people and cultures. From music blogs, to music stores, to concerts such as raves which strive for interconnectedness amongst the crowd, the culminating factor exists under one word: passion. Listening, watching, feeling, experiencing are all parts of the passion that people possess to enjoy and share music from around the world. 

When I was introduced to PlayingForChange I was ecstatic. Not unlike AfroReggae, Playing For Change advocates social change by means of music mediums and messages. Recognizing the power that music has to break boundaries, bridge cultures, and connect individuals around the world, this multimedia movement has made (air)waves in the music scene. In accordance, now, with a joint venture of Timeless Media and Concord Music Group, artist from around the world are performing benefit concerts, and inspiring hope throughout the world. 

A compilation of seventeen tracks on the album "Songs Around the World: Playing for Change" can be purchased in either a MP3 file, or CD-DVD which features the extremely moving (and rockin) videos of muscians from around the world, digitally mixed under one track. Released on April 28th, 2009, the album is already gaining notoriety on Itunes and Youtube as the world falls in love with the journey of Playing for Change. Watching this video below, I couldn't help but smile. This cover of Stand By Me was first recorded on the Promenade in Santa Monica by a street musician Roger Ridley. The musical composition was then transported to New Orleans, where a blind singer Grandpa Elliot sang vocals over the recording. 

From there, everything from drums, violins, guitars, symbols were added in from all corners of the world. Ben E. King, the original singer, would be proud of the passion and love felt by those playing and listening to his song. Enjoy!

GoMusic; Cheaper Downloads for the Penny-Pincher

In this economy, consumers of music seem to be straying from typical $20/album purchase and have turned to new ways of acquiring music. While some chose to illegally download desired music on programs such as LimeWire, others opt to safely and legally purchase music online. Facilities such as Itunes and Amazon allow users to download a wide array of music, but it comes at an expense. A typical download on Itunes is priced at .99 cents, while some higher quality files have spiked to $1.29. This trend can only compile into a mass rising of music media. 

 

So where do we go from here? Luckily, a company called GoMusic.ru answers the age-old question of where to get the most bang for your buck. It's purpose as an online music downloading forum based from Russia provides 

hundreds of thousands of musical talent in several genres, available to any consumer worldwide. The cite provides songs in MP3 format, averaging to fifteen cents per song. A quick register procedure is mandatory for downloading, including account activation by cre

dit card, PayPal or phone. Purchasing songs varies from mainstream companies (i.e.: Itunes) in that you purchase a credit towards the cite (max. of $30 for first payment with increments of $10 or more after the first credit) and after each purchase, the credit is deducted from the total amount initially set, instead of a song-by-song payment.

GoMusic has be licensed by the Russian copyright organization FAIR, entitling the cite to legally offer music by all artists from all labels. The songs lack any digital rights management, which makes them compatible to any MP3 player, including the Ipod. It offers audio books and music files in Russian and English, which are priced way below Itunes (songs averaging 15cents per song).  For example, The Great Gatsby audio book is $16.95 on Itunes, whereas GoMusic offers the same file for $4.50. Furthermore, the newest Kings of Leon album titled "Only By The Night" is sold for $11.99 on Itunes, and sold for eighty-nine cents on GoMusic. This allows users to purchase and download songs at a more economical rate without being illegal. Furthermore, the cite is extremely easy to navigator, with no advertisements or clutterin

g around the purchasing tabs and a quick and easy registration procedure.

Fifty percent of the profits of the downloads are given to the artists. While the downloads are priced at a lower price, this gives the user an incentive to support the artist and purchase more music and raise awareness to their music. The main asset to GoMusic is the pricing of their files. With an 84% decrease in the price of their music, the website provides a huge incentive to register and utilize their cite. You can also access your downloads on different computers by logging in to your personal account and re-downloading the song at no additional fee. This creates a “killer app” for the cite in not only sharing files, but also in the event of a computer failure, you can re-access your purchased and downloaded music through the archive. Furthermore, having a registered account under an established website legitimizes the purchasing of music at a lower rate, making the cite less controversial and illegal. While GoMusic’s “weakness” is that it does not allow for a song-by-song purchase, it is likely that a consumer of music will purchase more than $30 worth with little difficulty. Due to the credit charge at the beginning of registration and continuing throughout the users activity, this set-back pertains to only those who wish to download minimal amounts of music, versus those who wish to buy entire compilations of artists. 

Companies like Itunes and LimeWire pose as a threat due to their notoriety among music downloaders. With brand names that are highly functional, it can detract from the buzz surrounding smaller companies such as GoMusic. Itunes provides a mass service that is easily downloaded to any Mac purchaser, followed by a direct connection to an Ipod or Iphone purchase. This gives Mac users an incentive to continue to use a level medium of media sharing without any worries of a dysfunctional or illegal download. LimeWire provides a free se

rvice to it’s users, however remains illegal to those who use it. While this does provide an incentive for people to switch over to a legal medium, it does require a minimum credit of $30 while LimeWire is a free service.

However, I believe GoMusic has a shot at becoming a well-known and highly recognized company. The cite offers wide variety of albums that may not be found on any other music downloading cite while providing consumers with the newest releases. With a competitive pricing edge and stored archive of all your purchases, the cite allows users to freely access and re-download music files, whereas threats such as Itunes lack the ability to do. This is a very exciting and interesting take on music sharing, and GoMusic is absolutely a company to look out for. 

A Rave New World: A Closer Look at the 'Taboo' Rave Culture Illuminated in Los Angeles

Imagine an environment where equality is found on the dance floor. Emotions are in a constant state of ecstasy. Nourishment takes form in love. The addiction of choice is technology. The religion of choice is music. And society is Utopian, though it’s clear it will never be. The music will never stop. The heartbeat will never fade. The party will never end. – A Raver’s Manifesto (Levy 2004)

The all-night dance party, commonly known as a rave, thrives through this doctrine of life. Raves have introduced a contemporary perspective on music, social equality, and drug use for those brave enough to explore a new culture of live music. Fostered in the beats of techno and electronica genres of music, raves are typified by dark, crowded spaces, a perfect environment for heavy drug activity, combined with large, energetic crowds. The rave culture is facilitated by the intersection of the social sphere of interconnectedness, a common liking towards music, and the drug ecstasy. The “commodification” of rave culture is demonstrated in the normalization of attitudes towards ecstasy and the overall modernization of concerts as platforms for drug abuse. As a music enthusiast myself, I was curious to this phenomena beneath the facade of the perceived “sketchy” scene of raves and how closely it related to the reality of actuallyattending them.

In hopes to ultimately find a rhyme to the reason of attending raves, I decided to research the rave phenomena, targeting college student’s personal accounts and experience at raves. While the vast culture of raves resides globally, the ubiquitous presence of raves in Los Angeles provides 

opportunities and options for raves that college students can choose from. USC, located next to notorious venues such as “The Shrine” and “Los Angeles Coliseum” which host raves throughout the year, presents a convenient pool of attendees from which to draw my research from. What I wanted to explore in my research is the missing link: what makes drugs synonymous with the perceptions of raves? Diving into the culture and environment of raves and those who attend, whether under the influence of drugs or not, I want to find out how drugs and their availability affect the overall participation and human social interaction at raves. Culminating in six phone interviews and my personal attendance at a rave, I was able to gain significant insight to the unknown portal of rave culture.

While the obvious connection between drugs and raves resonated throughout each interview, the specific findings in each individual’s responses led me to a new understanding of the rave phenomena. To begin, all seven participants have experimented with drugs, the most prominent being marijuana. This offered a general premise that all were open-minded to the use of drugs in a social setting. Furthermore, all but one participant enjoyed listening to techno music outside of the rave environment. This data supported my overall understanding of motives behind attending raves.

My overall findings included mixed responses under one central theme; music. While five of the six have gone to raves under the influence of ecstasy, not one person portrayed a negative view to individuals (like myself) who chose to forgo taking drugs while at a rave. One participant Jay justified that, “You really can’t get to those ‘higher channels’ of thinking without taking drugs…it’s a completely different experience,” including heightened social interaction and emotional euphoria he experienced while on ecstasy. While the unknown ‘channels of thinking’ remain a mystery to me, I found the overall enjoyment of  a rave does not have to coincide with drugs. The pure desire to connect to music and be submersed in an environment that accepts every aspect of life does not have to be fueled by drugs. While the effects of ecstasy may heighten one’s sensitivity and emotions, the central factor is the music. If people are there for celebrating an artist and appreciating their contribution to the music world, drugs become secondary.

What I did not expect to discover in my research was an unforeseen sense of camaraderie between ravers. Crowds of thousands cultivate a feeling of togetherness and unity that creates a celebrated, collective society. Believing in “The Massive” is the existing philosophy of ravers in which music professes an intimate crowd as the single element that binds people together. The feeling of this “togetherness,” while unanimously found by each participant to be mainly drug-induced, may however, contain elements that run deeper than ecstasy. Being a participant of the whole does not separate those on drugs and those who are not, but rather encompasses the crowd as one. “The Massive,” as the intimacy and openness symbolized through a crowd’s social interaction of dancing and communication may be intensified on ecstasy, but can be felt by everyone.

Jay told me a compelling story about one of his most moving experiences at a rave. While he was in the bathroom at a rave called Monster Massive, he looked over and asked a man next to him, “Having a good time?” The man stared at him, pointed to his ear, and shook his head in confusion; Jay realized that the man next to him was deaf. Jay tried using body language by beating on his chest, and the man smiled and gave him a “thumbs up”. The man walked away, and Jay noticed other men wearing identical necklaces with “Vibes” written on them following the man into the crowd. Representing the power that resonates through musical beats, “vibes” symbolizes a feeling that can’t be heard but felt through the energy of the crowd.

Jay’s story solidifies what I found through my personal experiences and interviews to be the most important characteristic of a rave: a place where every individual is equally respected, appreciated, and counted for. There is no separation between crowd members when describing raves because there are no social labels existing at raves. Exemplified in the widely used acronym “PLUR” standing for “Peace Love Unity Respect”, ravers celebrate the different intersecting lives that unify together at one event. The outward acceptance of an individual’s race, gender, choices, abilities, and preferences is the most powerful beat behind a rave’s music. Utilizing music as the translator of social communication builds a sense of belonging and intimacy that cannot be found anywhere else.

For some, the drug culture makes the rave experience. But it’s clear the dominating aspect needed at a rave is an open mind, an open awareness to the surrounding environment, and an appreciation for the music. While those who have never attended raves typically associate them with drugs, once individuals experience a rave, they realize music can be celebrated without drugs and with the desire to become part of a social culture that never fades.

Opening Up "Pandora's" Box

"It's a new kind of radio- stations that play only the music you like." -Pandora

Introducing a new spin on discovering and discussing new talent in the music industry is the Internet radio and blog Pandora. Started by the Music Genome Project, Pandora takes the creedo that music is an individual and unique experience; no one has the exact same tastes. Using advanced musical analysis of up to 400 distinct musical characteristics of your music preference, Pandora ensures a quality listening experience that allows it's users to discover and enjoy new music on a daily (and free) basis. Servicing over 8 million users, Pandora fills the roles of two purposes: an automated music recommender and an open forum for music discussions. Updated on an average four days per week, the Pandora blog directs it’s bloggers to new music, new features found on the cite including applications for BlackBerrys and Iphones, local music scenes and concerts, as well as philanthropic organizations such as Pandora & GlobalGiving. 

Pandora's social blog serves as a vital connector between professional music enthusiasts and real listeners who can give feedback and input on featured artists and topics throughout the blog. The creators not only include interactive blogs with hyperlinks to new music or band websites, but also include video chats and video series which add to the level of personal communication between users. With an easy to use archive dating back four years, the cite allows it's users to freely explore any topic with no limits as to their activity and frequency while surfing the cite. 

The Pandora blog opens doors for the eager and interested in any and all musical content. It's a place where users can go and discover new talent and content they would've not seen otherwise.