Subject: Re: [linux-audio-user] That whole mp3 vs. ogg vs. wma vs. yomamma thing
From: Mathias Lundgren (mathias_lundgren_AT_bredband.net)
Date: Sun Oct 12 2003 - 13:32:41 EEST
fredagen den 10 oktober 2003 19.10 skrev Pete Bessman:
....
> The problem, as I see it, is distribution. To take advantage of the big
> daddy, P2P, people gotta know who you are and want your stuff in advance.
> You can try using misleading filenames or info tags so that your stuff
> gets accidentaly downloaded, but I personally just delete stuff like
> that, so I wouldn't recommed it. You have a better chance of getting
> heard by option 2, the music websites, if someone is doing genre
> browsing, but then you're going to have to use mp3. As for CD ripping...
> well, if that even becomes an option then we've already won IMHO.
>
> In my perfect world, everyone would use ogg or flac or some other equally
> libre format. In order to help realize that goal, we need to gain
> musical clout so that the kids look up to us, and then choose to
> distribute solely in formats that we endorse. We gotta have that clout
> first, however, and we aren't gonna get that without compromising. A
> good solution, in my pea brain, is to setup an account with something
> like mp3.com and post a few _good_ songs (the songs have to be _good_ or
> else we're dead in the water). If you get the kid's attention, they'll
> check out your personal artist page, from which you can link to your
> homepage where they can get "even more and newer" music in the "vastly
> superior and unrestrained" ogg format. The songwriting is going to be the
> biggest factor, IMHO. Without kickin' tunes, nothing else matters.
> Period. Get good songs, get them distributed, get popularity, get power,
> establish ogg as the new lingua franca for the hip and rebellious music
> community.
Well spoken! I think this is not only related to ogg, it's related to most of
the technology in the linux audio scene. We need to show people that it can
actually be used to create great stuff.
IMPO Linux audio isn't ready for the average Windows/Mac-user, but there is
actually great stuff out there, and I bet you can use it to produce something
that sounds great to listen to, without having to buy a lot of expensive
hardware. But how do we catch people's interest? Right now, I'm not sure
we're doing that (or perhaps I've been missing something. In that case, point
me in a good direction).
Personally, I went into linux audio with the intention to actually produce
something that sounds equally good compared to stuff I've made with other,
proprietary, apps, but I find myself getting more and more stuck into
programming, not creating music ("I just need this little feature, then I'm
satisfied, oh, and this little feature too... Gotta fix that... And why isn't
this working?....."). Since I'm fond of both types of activities, I'm not
complaining. I'm enjoying myself. A lot. But there's not a lot music
produced.
I think it would be worth lots to have a great showcase of things created with
only free software. To actually have a bunch of living proof that shows what
is actually possible to do, in the current state of linux audio software.
High quality stuff (I guess one could argue a lot about what high quality
stuff is, though). That speaks stronger to the "ordinary music lover" than a
list of technical features of programs and file formats. I wish that all the
audio apps would put up links to GOOD stuff actually produced using the apps.
Not just "this is a sound created by a sine wave, a resonance filter and
yaddayaddayadda" (even though I find such things cool, myself). Or perhaps
(horrible thought), there isn't any such stuff? Are we actually only using
the software to create "Absolute Sinus x" over and over again? Most of my
audio friends seem to think that. I would love to prove them wrong.
Is there such a showcase anywhere? I know there is good material out there
made with Ardour, etc, but is it enough to make a showcase of? I bet there
are a lot of warez-using hobbyist musicians that would love to switch, if
they only believed there actually is a free alternative. Who wouldn't mind to
get their hands a little dirty, if they only knew they could actually produce
something that sounds ok in the end. The more ppl we get interested in these
things, the better.
/Mathias
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b28 : Sun Oct 12 2003 - 13:39:03 EEST