Monday, October 27, 2008

One Last Post From An Old Blogger?

WHAT’S GOIN’ ON?

It’s not Halloween yet, but it’s getting scary in the world of music blogs.

Over the past month, blogger.com and other web hosts have been deleting posts in response to numerous take down notices from copyright holders. Two of the posts deleted from Star Maker Machine featured songs that were more than forty years old. That hits a little bit too close to home for me. Most of the old country songs I like to feature here are owned by major labels. If I can’t post 'em, then I can’t operate this blog.

Until this week, I thought my blog was doing a small service to the music industry by helping to drum up fan interest in great old music. Don’t blame me for thinking this way. The PR agents hired by the labels seem think the same way too. They regularly ask me to post tracks from new releases and reissues. One major label affiliate sends me free promo CDs in the hope that I will post something at this site. Every day I get e-mails from promoters about some new band.

If the labels don’t like music blogs, then why are they sending tracks for me to post? If the labels do like music blogs, then why are they sending take down notices?

My concern is that the recent take-down activity signals a shift in the industry’s stance toward music blogs. Maybe they’ve decided we no longer serve a useful purpose? If that’s the case, then I don’t want any part of it. I’m here because I love music, not to be some kind of trouble maker. If the tacit approval of the record companies is over, then so is this blog.

WHAT’S A TAKE DOWN NOTICE?

A take down notice is a letter from a copyright holder alleging a copyright violation. Take down letters are rarely sent directly to bloggers. Usually they go to the companies that host blogs or mp3s (like blogger.com or box.net). For more information about take down notices, see this message from blogger.com.

For someone who is just blogging for fun, there's no reason to fight a take-down notice by filing a counter notification. I’ve got no financial stake in the continued existence of this blog. But it’s a little upsetting to be accused of violating the law, especially after the record companies have given their tacit approval of this blog by soliciting coverage here.

WHAT’S “FAIR USE”?

For what it’s worth, my posting policy here at STWOF has always been to post mp3s for a limited time only, with no more than one or two tracks per album, and with “buy” links to help readers find the correct album to purchase. I have never collected any revenue from this blog. It actually costs me a decent amount of money to pay for hosting, etc.

I post mp3s according to these guidelines in an effort to comply with the “fair use” doctrine. Many other music bloggers do the same. (See articles about music blogging here, here, and here).

Not all unauthorized sharing of copyrighted materials is illegal. Under US copyright law, the legality of posting mp3s on a music blog depends on the interpretation of the 17 USC 107, which provides:


Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 106 and 106A, the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include—

(1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;

(2) the nature of the copyrighted work;

(3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and

(4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

The fact that a work is unpublished shall not itself bar a finding of fair use if such finding is made upon consideration of all the above factors.
Application of the fair use doctrine requires the balancing of a number of factors. So it is not entirely clear whether responsible mp3 blogging would be deemed to constitute a "fair use." No court has addressed the question, but I think a strong argument can be made in favor of the legality of some music blogs.

There's no question that my posts here are for nonprofit educational purposes. I don’t make any in revenue and I’ve tried to create an informative environment. The benefit I’m shooting for here is to call attention to deserving music, which definitely would count as "comment" under the "fair use" exception.

Less clear is “the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.” Will posting an mp3 cause readers to seek out and buy the full album of an artist they might never have heard otherwise (in which case there will be a positive effect on the market)? Or will it stop potential customers from paying to download the same song (in which case the effect would be negative)? That question has been the subject of some research, but no conventional wisdom exists. I think the fact that so many artists openly encourage music blogs to post mp3s of their songs strongly suggests that responsible mp3 blogs are helpful to the industry, at least on a case by case basis.

WHAT’S SO GREAT ABOUT MUSIC BLOGS?

The purpose of the “fair use” exception is to balance the copyright holder’s interest in exploiting his or her intellectual property (thereby fostering the creation of more intellectual property) against the benefit available to the public when otherwise protected materials are shared in a fair way. Accordingly, its important for those of us who love music blogs to examine and explain how they are beneficial to our culture.

Music blogs benefit the public by providing a great way to learn about new (and old) music. In the old days, the best we could do was to listen to the radio, hang out at record shops, subscribe to music magazines, and compare notes with our friends. In recent decades, the first two methods have become less attractive and the last two have become obsolete.

Radio stations and record stores aren’t what they used to be. Radio stations used to be regionalized and somewhat interesting. Now, aside from the occasional show on a public station, free radio consists mostly of lousy, mainstream, commercialized junk. Satellite radio is better, but its not something everyone can afford. And brick and mortar record stores barely exist anymore. If you’ve got a good one in your neighborhood, you’re lucky. The big book stores that sell music rarely have the kind of selection or expertise that music lovers used to be able to find at the old independent record stores.

Comparing notes with friends is still a great way to find out about new music. But wouldn’t it be even better if you had a whole bunch of friends with similar interests instead of just one or two? That is the world of music blogs in a nutshell. If you can find ten or twenty blogs that best match your interests, which isn't hard, then you’ve got yourself a great little interactive community of music "experts" that you never would have been able to find before the invention of the internet. Music blogs, aggregated by sites like The Hype Machine and eblo.ws, have taken the basic concept of word-of-mouth marketing to an exponentially higher level.

Some music magazines are also still worth reading, but they’re fading away now that we have the internet to enjoy. They're also less satisfying in comparison. Music is best understood through the ears, not the eyes. Remember how frustrating it was to read a review of a new band that supposedly sounded like a combination of “late-sixties Kinks” and “Reckoning-era R.E.M.” only to discover, upon shelling out $17.95 that you own a pile of sonic crap? The huge advantage of music blogs is that you actually get to hear a sample of the album being reviewed.

We’ve built a better mousetrap. Do we really want to kill it off?

What makes music blogs so unique as a tool for finding music is that they could not have existed before the internet. These days, when we want to find anything, the internet is the first place we look. Why should it be any different with music? The web allows us to play and hear sound. Why shouldn’t we take advantage of this technology to best relay information about music?

In short, there isn't any pre-internet analog to music blogs. Before the internet existed, we relied on the radio, print magazines, and word-of-mouth because that was all we had. Copyright law should not be interpreted in a way that would end this natural and beneficial innovation in the way we communicate ideas about music.

The ability for anybody to publish on-line leads to the final, and most important, attribute of music blogs: Unlike radio, print magazines, commercial websites like Amazon, and the on-line presence of record companies, music blogs are not inspired by a profit motive. With music blogs, music fans get to see and hear the independent editorial opinions of other well-informed fans. The person selecting the songs and artists to feature has nothing to gain by persuading you to fall for some specific product. They’re telling you about the music they love. It’s an organic and trustworthy medium.

To sum it all up:

(1) The place we all go for information is the internet.

(2) We can best get information about music by actually hearing the music, rather than just reading about it.

(3) Information the comes from an organic network of fans—without a profit motive—is infinitely more valuable than information coming from a record company or retailer with something to sell.

Only music blogs combine all of these features.

WHAT’S NEXT FOR STWOF?

Like I said, I can't operate in an environment where the industry is objecting to the posting of forty-year-old tracks.

As long as this blog isn’t deleted by blogger it will remain here for posterity’s sake, but I won’t be posting much of anything until this latest take-down issue works itself out. Keep me on your feed reader, because I may continue posting links over to good stuff happening elsewhere. And who knows? Maybe I’ll figure out a way to come back someday.

As I said last week, it’s been a great year here at STWOF. Thank you!

WHAT’S YOUR TAKE?

I would really love to hear your thoughts about "fair use" and the general value of music blogs. Are they something that can be sustained in the long run under the current legal environment? Do they serve a useful purpose? What can we do to save them? Am I full of hot air?

ONE MORE FOR THE ROAD

Before I fade off into the sunset, there is one more song that I need to post. It’s an amazingly good song about packing up and moving on to new things.

Guy Clark - L.A. Freeway (buy).


The entire album comes highly recommended from me. You should buy it right now!

UPDATE: This post from Modern Accoustic has some hopeful quotes from a few folks in the music PR business.

46 comments:

Unknown said...

I have bought many albums after listening to songs on the few web blogs I go to. (I picked up sweetheart of the rodeo to cite a specific example from this blog). The radio doesn't play much of what I like, and it's a good way to find new tunes. This blog will be missed and I hope you find a way to bring it back.

Ramone666 said...

As music bloggers, we´re in a weird & f*cked up situation right now. Since I personally didn´t get a ´take down notice´ yet I intend to just go on posting, but when Blogger starts deleting whole posts of mine that´ll be the end for me too. And that goes for every music blog in the world probably, which would be a huge waste, for all the reasons you pointed out in your excellent post. Let´s just hope this whole shebang blows over soon... Paul, have you got any idea what artists and/or labels are doing this? Cheers!

boyhowdy said...

Beautiful treatise, Paul. Nice to see others taking up the cause of explaining with their own strenmgths; my recent post (and thanks for linking to it) is but a shadow of yours, but it covers the same bases, I think.

I especially like your three-point summary, and agree with it. My theory, though, is that "the industry" is hitting music blogs in an attempt to intimidate us into oblivion. THEY don't agree with that summary; they seem to believe, apparently, that they can get back their old model by killing ours, regardless of whether this would be a move backwards, culturally speaking. And especially given that they are putting a price tag of 3500 per song as LOST revenue when going to court so far -- as I mentioned in my own blog on the subject -- the fact that we do this NOT for profit puts us in a poor position to fight back.

Unless the ACLU or the EFF are ready to take up the cause, whether this is or is not going to stand as fair use is a moot issue. This isn't a LEGAL issue so much as it is a cultural manipulation issue -- one which the tools of copyright ATTACK (the PRO-IP law and the DMCA) allow for.

As for Ramone666's question: near as I can tell, it is Columbia, via BMI/ASCAP/RIAA, in addition to a few smaller and overzealous labels and rep companies, which are doing this. With the support of the labels and industry itself, the copyright "unions" are much more powerful than bloggers could ever hope to be, even if the laws mentioned above were not designed to protect copyright holders over fair use users.

Nelson said...

I found your post just as I was sitting down to work on a new post for my site later this week. On Friday, I plan to post my Top 5 "Blog Finds," or artists that I found out about from mp3 blogs that I would not have otherwise known. All the artists on the list are ones that I had never heard before, but artists that I went out and bought their records after finding out about them online.

One of the artists on the list is Let's Active... a group I found out about here before I even started my own site.

I have also received confirmation from more than one reader that they have bought albums after finding out about them on my site. I know this is just anecdotal evidence that mp3 blogging can be beneficial to the music industry, but these can't just be isolated incidents.

I also have had a post deleted by blogger and a file deleted by box.net. The only notification I received came from box after they deleted the file the second time (the first time, I thought I accidentally deleted it myself... so I put it back up.). Had I been asked by the record label (Lost Highway), I would have gladly removed the link from my post. Instead, it just disappeared along with the glowing review of the album that I had written. Are these labels getting so much good publicity and reviews that they don't need mine?

I'm with Ramone666 for now though... I'm going to keep going until something drastic happens. Like the rest of you though, I don't make any dough off of this, and I can't afford a legal battle.

We'll just have to see where it goes.

alt-gramma said...

Very well said, Paul, and I am saddened that this will lead to the demise of many blogs, especially one with as unique a focus as yours. I am also in the process of writing on the subject (waiting for permissions to post songs), and I will link to your post.

I plan to make changes, be more careful, and keep going; but I have the advantage of posting new music and unsigned bands, where that is not an option for you. It does put a crimp on my conversational-type posts, where I used any mp3 that suited the subject, but oh well.

To all: I hope giving up is your last resort. Don't dream it's over--crap, I probably couldn't use that song.

Anonymous said...

Legally speaking, I think #3 as listed doesn't favor audio bloggers; i.e. you can post an excerpt but not a whole trap. Of course, we're all well acquainted with the idea of turning a blind eye to arguably victimless crimes. For example, I spent years working illegally on a tourist visa overseas with minimal problems, and nowadays I regularly ride my bike on the sidewalk in view of the police and nobody ever bothers me. As to whether or not it's in the companies' interests to crack down, well, maybe I'll come back later with some thoughts.

I was looking forward to more Merle, though.

Ramone666 said...

What I cannot understand is why Blogger, Box et al are deleting posts and files right away instead of simply notifying bloggers that they got a request to take something down.

Anonymous said...

Thank you Paul, it was fun while it lasted! Best of luck, and I'll drop back here from time to time to see if you've had a reprieve and reconsidered.

boyhowdy said...

@ Ramone666: IANAL (and I know at least one of the folks in this conversation is), but as I understand it, DMCA rules REQUIRE that blogger and box.net act immediately upon receipt of a take-down notice, regardless of whether or not they believe the files are in fact legit, or they become liable for fines for non-compliance. If they want to notify us afterwards, they can, but there's no rush; that same law requires a ten business day wait period before we can file a counter-claim. I wrote about this a bit in my own recent posts on the subject.

Anonymous said...

goodbye to one of the best music blogs out there. all my disc purchases these days are those i learn about on blogs like this and Nelson's. as an example, I received Brett Ratliff's "Cold Icy Mountain" in the mail yesterday after downloading songs from Nelson's "Fifty Cent Lighter and a Whiskey Buzz". Great stuff. I'll miss this blog.

Ted Barron said...

Hey Paul,
I'm not sure what to make of this. I haven't had anything removed from my blog yet, but maybe this is something we can all expect in the future. Maybe the mp3 blog is soon to be a thing of the past. You should keep going regardless, although I understand your apprehension. When I started the BWF, I was only going to post mp3's made from actual records. Slowly, I started adding CD's. With the exception of the "Web Sherriff," I haven't had any problems, and I do get daily solicitation from PR people and record companies to post stuff on my site. Thanks for the thoughtful and well spoken post about this problem. The last thing any of us want to do is go to court for a blog.

Ted

Which tracks did you run into trouble with, and from whom?

Ramone666 said...

Thanks for the info Brendan. I guess what we´re seeing here are the final death throws of a sluggish industry that makes less and less money every year. I also think what they´re doing now is completely arbitrary, as Ted and I didn´t have any trouble yet. And I very recently put up some Dylan stuff from the new album, which is on Columbia... But hey, maybe they think I´m insignificant.
Ultimately I don´t think they can stop us. Look at a site such as Piratebay, where they do put up complete albums, but which can´t be taken on because of some Swedish law.
I guess the only solution is that Paul as a lawyer has to go to court over this for all of us...

Ramone666 said...

PS I meant thanks for the info Boyhowdy of course. Sorry for the mix-up.

. said...

I hope you'll reconsider, Paul. After two and a half years of blogging, I recently received my first "take-down" notice at the GMC and it was for a 50 year old song. Even though the artist and songwriter are long gone, I guess someone(?) wrote to box.net and that's all it took. They don't tell you who complained, so no way to know if it's part of a campaign by the industry or just an isolated incident -- hopefully the latter.

Like many of us, I frequently review tons of new albums that are sent to me with specific or implied OK's for posting a track or two in the review. It would seem counterproductive for the industry to turn around and complain about my other type of posts -- old songs and the story behind them.

Hang in there with us, buddy...

Anonymous said...

It's been quite a week. I first noticed this a few weeks ago and now it's picked up a head of steam.

The PRO-IP law is in now effect. In fact, a new Executive Branch office to oversee IP enforcement has been created along with a permanent Intellectual Property Division within the Department of Justice.

The big media companies are now going hog-wild. I'd thought the original intent of the law would be to go after true bootleggers, people that post unreleased tracks or advance copies of films, but now it looks like they're targeting bloggers. You can see it's effect by checking out the HypeMachine's backlog of music - you'll notice the *play* button has been removed from the majority of tracks.

Years ago, Columbia Records had a marketing campaign that said, "The Man Can't Bust Our Music." Who ever thought one day the problem wouldn't be "The Man", but the record companies? They need to check their brick and mortar retailers and get a clue who's moving their music. I'm not going anywhere - if I have to, I'll make the files available via torrent. That'll kill traffic, but I'm not going to be chased away.

Anonymous said...

This will kill the careers of many new acts who won't be given the chance to breathe as they will
never receive enough radio play to
garner sales or interest. Just look
at the sheer amount of bands that
have benefited through the blogosphere that were previously unheard of. The way forward for record companies is to forget singles or track sales and let the blogs do their job for them. People
just won't give new unsigned acts a
chance and the fact that artists that feature heavily on blogs are usually alternative or specialist
means that they only make serious amount of sales in albums anyway, so why kill the oxygen that has fuelled interest in bands that wouldn't have stood a hope in hell
of making the album chart top 20 otherwise. I have spent alot of money buying albums through this blog which has been a massive success in introducing country, jazz and rock to a new audience. Something tells me that record company greed and belief that every
download is a loss will come back to haunt them.
All the best Paul, shame all the work you've done to introduce and sell great music has gone unoticed.
Still I'll end my post in a positive way and say I've really enjoyed the posts and debate on one of the greatest blogs.

Anonymous said...

Just one more thing: when this kind of topic comes up, I like to link to this article written by Paul Krugman way back in 1996. "This was written for a special centennial issue of the NYT magazine. The instructions were to write it as if it were in an issue 100 years in the future, looking back at the past century."

I think it will continue to be relevant for a long time.

BTW regarding my previous comment, I just happened to have taken a class in school that touched on Fair Use on the internet a while back. That was pretty much the extent of what I remember of it.

Anonymous said...

As others have noted, shutting down the music blogs, like this one, isn't going to help record sales - it's going to hurt them. Great blogs, like this one, turn their audience on to music they probably wouldn't hear otherwise, and certainly not on the sad relic that is radio in America today. They should be thanking you guys not trying to shut you down! (Since they won't, I will! Thanks for all the great music you've introduced me to.)

Anonymous said...

The record industry has no idea what to do. It has no answer. It's just blindly swinging at everything in its way.

You've done a great service here to country/americana music fans, and it's a shame to see them attack one of the few places where you can find genuine country music. A lot of this music would be getting zero exposure were it not for STWOF. By way of this blog, I've bought vinyl, mp3 albums from Amazon and rented related DVDs.

When things were good for the recording industry they charged us $18 a CD while underpaying the talent. They carelessly transferred old recordings to compact discs, resulting in the need for re-mastering within a few years. They primarily catered to the Sam Goodys and Tower Records, not the independent retailers, and look at which one (barely) still exists today?

Ah well. Thanks for contributing some soul to the Internet.

Anonymous said...

A few thoughts:

- Your blog inspired me to buy numerous CDs that otherwise would never have been purchased. Maybe there are some other blogs that abuse the posting of .mp3s, but this sure seems like throwing the baby out with the bathwater to me.
- This is likely a minority opinion, but I don't believe that links to full .mp3 files are essential to the success of a music blog. Quality writing, as you have provided here, along with links to the snippets that Amazon or AllMusic provides (or even YouTube), would keep me coming back.
- If this turns out to be the end, thanks for everything. It was a helluva run while it lasted.

Anonymous said...

If it weren't for blogs like yours, I wouldn't be exposed to a lot of the music that interests me. I've found many great artists through blogs such as yours. When I like an artist, I go out and buy all of their albums! Music blogs are doing a service for people that the RIAA is, obviously, unaware of. It's too bad. I don't even have my own music blog, but I am mad as heck! Perhaps I just won't buy any more music at all anymore.

boyhowdy said...

Box.net finally let me know who asked for my take-down (the one that caused them to say "too many -- no more box.net for YOU!).

Turns out it was the gov't copyright agency of the UK.

Are THEY using the new PRO-IP law to their advantage?

Mario B said...

Just for your information : there was a blogging place called Multiply. For almost one year, I had a musical blog there, sharing songs (and not complete albums), old and new, with people all over the world. May 2007, Multiply delete some posts. Last January, they shut down all the download tags, to every single blog on Multiply. I left. Many of us left. I saw only one Multiply guy on Blogger. Myself, I have a little musical blog for music from 1900 to 1950 on a French company. What I see here at Blogger, and what I read from you people, makes me think a lot of what's happened then at Multiply. Don't worry : one day, there will be no music at all on the Internet.

a Tart said...

There will always be music on the internet. There will always be open indexes of people's files. There will always be companies who will stream music with or without having to log in to hear it. That is rubbish, in my opinion, and I mean you no disrespect sir.

But, this Blogger.com thing is truly becoming a tidal wave I fear and only a small part of that wave. Have any of you noticed the recent lack of videos on YouTube that enable embedding now? That used to be my alternate choice for giving readers a song I could not provide a mp3 for. No longer. Eeek!

And Paul, I'm sad to see you go. You had a great blog here, obviously one that inspired many many people to buy good music. Thanks for that, I hope you find your muse again! xoxoxo

Darius said...

Paul, I understand your reasoning, but I hope you will reconsider. You have been doing a great job here, and I would hate to see a few idiots ruin that.

BTW, wouldn't it solve everybody's problems if we all posted streams instead of downloadable files?

Nicolas said...

I don't know what to think about all this...
as a rookie in music blogs (mine is just a few weeks old), it would be a hard blow if blogger closed my blog or delete some of my posts.
But like the others I really would like you to reconsider Paul because It has always beeb a great pleasure to listen to some country gems on your blog, especially here in france where country is absent on radio

A Free Man said...

Great post. I'm in a bit of a quandary here, because I don't really know what the industry wants. Like you, I get loads of songs from PR folks and the like and like you I'm thinking of not posting tracks anymore. DOn't know how I'll find out about new music, though. Grrrrr.

Unknown said...

i enjoy your blog and have purchased many songs/albums because of your posts here. i look at it like you are promoting a product - almost like a free sample - for a huge industry. it makes absolutely no sense to me that they reject this free promotion. the record industry is the only business in the world that does that - and that's why their business is broken.

your explanation of the whole mess was great by the way.

Unknown said...

this is the worst news i have heard all week. your blog and others like it has been an incredible comfort for me to find like minded individuals in this crazy musical world. hope this thing clears up and you can continue to do great work. Strange...i was just considering starting my own similar blog. really sad...

Rockstar Aimz said...

Same thing happened to me a few days ago! The post that was pulled was all about 70s AM Gold music - smooth pop/rock that was mostly popular before I turned 5 years old. At first I thought, "Great, Dave Loggins is going to sue me." And I love this type of music!

I am stunned to see that this is happening to everyone. What a load of crap!

Paul, please reconsider. I have learned so much from your blog. Your "History of Country Rock" was a thing of beauty.

Viva STWOF!

-tom said...

Paul,
Hopefully you'll find a way to continue. After 2 years I got my first DMCA takedown notice this past week too, along with a deleted post.
The fact that it seems more like a widespread crackdown on bloggers in general and not an isolated incident has me a bit concerned as to what to do next as well.
I'm not ready to throw in the towel just yet, but having to consider it as a potential option is a bit depressing I must admit.
-tom

boyhowdy said...

A Thought: what we seem to be talking about a lot here is what is best for the music industry, for artists, for music in general.

We seem to be assuming that we are what is best. If so, then perhaps we need to find some labels and artists who are willing to stand up for us, as a way to let the industry understand that message?

How would we start such a movement?

Paul said...

There are a lot of great thoughts here in the comments. Thanks! Keep 'em coming.

I am going to respond to many of them with a new post later in the week (or next week) addressing the issues in more detail, and with more questions for you. It really is a challenging problem to tackle.

If music blogs are allowed to exist and to remain unregulated, the labels will have very little control and some bloggers will abuse the system. On the other hand, the more formalized and regulated music blogs become (perhaps to gain some official stamp of approval from the industry or the law), the less interesting they will become, I suspect.

I think the answer lies in fleshing out the "fair use" doctrine as applied to music blogs. This probably could be accomplished by some interested party filing a declaratory judgment action in US federal court asking for such a ruling.

Now I've really got something to think about... (We just need to come up with about $100,000 for the costs of litigation.)

Doctor Mooney said...

Paul, please reconsider your decision of withdrawal. You have a great blog here and have turned on so many people to such a great group of artists. Thank you for this post and thanks to everyone who commented!

A week ago I received my first DMCA take down notification for a post on Beck's new album. Even though the post was from back when the album came out. Damn you Interscope! I may have to refrain from posting about any major label artists from here on out.

Keep it up!

Doctor Mooney

Unknown said...

All I can say is that as a longtime country music fan, your blog is the rare blog I look to every week for awesome writing and intriguing MP3s that I am predominantly not familiar with. If you stop you will ruin my life, so please don't!

Mr. Beer N. Hockey said...

Big Blogger is Watching You.

Nicolas said...

Blogger just deleted one of my posts today on my blog...

Anonymous said...

Here's a question. Since you don't have a blogspot url I presume you're paying for this anyway. Is it possible you would be less likely to have posts deleted if you used typepad or something?

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the contribution you've made to a niche of the musical world for the past couple of years. I've enjoyed getting home form work, logging on and finding great new music to buy. I can't help but think that it's a hiatus and that the industry will be the ultimate loser...See you!

frankenslade said...

Hey Paul,

What a DAMN shame. I love this place, and I love the way we get to share our love for music through blogs like Setting the Woods on Fire. You've turned me onto many great tracks and encouraged a number of purchases of things I may not have otherwise purchased. You put you heart into this place every time you post, and it's people like you and your readers who keep music more important and meaninful than any marketing team will ever do. Best of luck with these current hassles. I hope there's a way the industry can make peace with what some of us do. Those sites that do nothing but post zipped new releases have more to answer for, but you're giving more than any of us are taking.

hambone said...

i can only pray the industry folks come to their senses. the good work you and other music bloggers are doing is too valuable. your posting about that piece of mellowperfection by guy clark being a definite case in point. good luck!

Anonymous said...

Come back - where will I get my country music?

Santo said...

This is one of the best music blogs on the net. I'm sad to see the site shut down for the moment... it seems very short-sighted of the recording industry to come down on a site that is promoting the purchase of music, rather than those that offer entire albums ripped.

Hope STWOF comes back!

Anonymous said...

Did I dream that there was a new post? Now it seems to be gone.

Paul said...

Yeah. My bad. Accidentally deleted that one. No big deal. It was just a short post saying stay tuned because I've got something in the works.

muruch said...

I don't know if you've read my own posts about this, but it would seem in most cases (at least in mine) that these claims aren't coming from the actual copyright holders. I had a post deleted that contained a completely legal mp3 - I had permission from the record label who held the copyright for the recording and they represent both the artist and the licensing company. I didn't receive any notice, just discovered the post was gone. The label encouraged me to file a counter claim with Google, which I have done.

Don't blame the artists or labels unless they actually admit to it. Google/Blogger isn't verifying the claims before they delete, so they could be coming from anyone.