Would YOU vote this guy for prez?

S

scarecrow

1
Ruben Blades does not need any special acquaintance... he's one of the living legends of latin music, with some of his recordings being benchmarks. His style and thematology is unique, as equally unique is his latest act: He offers his last CD to be downloaded freely! You are allowed to pay though if you think the music is worth something... And the sum you would like to pay is decided by YOU!
http://www.rubenblades.com/cd/downloadGratis.asp
Site is in spanish, but navigation is pretty easy...
Strictly speaking it is not a typical Ruben Blades CD- it will NOT be distributed normally, so the big RIAA related sharks don't get any bite of the pie. From the whole CD, 4 songs are from Blades himself, and another 7 from US and latin american groups that simply refused to give way to the industry and did not distribute their music "normally". The style is rather closer to rock and world music than latin, and not all songs are in spanish- two of them are in english and one in (brazilian) portuguese.
The CD has eleven songs, from which the ten are freely available for download. The eleventh one ( "Tu Te Lo Pipi", an exhellent song and most probably the best of the CD) is available as a bonus track if you register by paying anything you like- even one dollar or a few cents.
Ruben almost became president of Panama a few years ago- he lost to a jerk for a few thousand votes. Would YOU vote such a guy for president?
 
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S

scarecrow

1
woody said:
Gets my vote too...Hope he makes some cash from his venture! :)
Click to expand...
It doesn't seem to be the real objective... Excuse my VERY crude translation from Spanish:

"This is a compilation of original pop-rock works from artists that never had the chance to introduce themselves. COPY IT!. Then you can send us the sum you think it's fair for that work at our suggested places. This experiment will prove if we can make it in the future without the go-betweens in lower prices, with the artist being able to reap the profits of his work directly...
...The way we chose to meet the cruel reality of prohibiting newer or older artists is unusual. A lot of people are asking me: What if you don't get one cent for the downloaded music? My answer is:
1. We have tried, and that alone makes us proud of working in that project.
2. In that case it will be proven that the problem for the artist/ creator is much more complex than the usual vampirism of record companies and the professional pirates.
3. In any case, worthwhile talents will have a ffair degree of publicity.
Besides the above, this act can also be useful to show to which degree we are, as entities, part of the corrupt system we denounce to the politicians and the institutions, and also to which degree we are mature to change this situation.
Media have not said anything, up to date, about our project, although some journalists have tried. It's not surprising for me, as what we do is a threat for the showbiz structure. The music industry, as it stands today, demands from the artist to be shallow, fake and boring. That sums up to the creation of end products which is hardly distingushable from each other, as they were toasters or autos.
This makes easier to fullfill the basic preconditions of modern commerce: A sterile, unrevolutionary thing which is aimed at the lowest possible culture and intellectual level. The replication of this formula ad infinitum has created a truth which begins from a lie: What the public wants. The truth is that this is the only available product through an infrastructure whose only aim is keeping the sick status quo. magazines, radio, TV, everything operate within those parameters and without aloowing anyone to bypass them when distributing his work. So, we have the duty to find the way out, to escape from that vicious circle.
Will we succed? Emeterio Betanses, from Puerto Rico, has said once: having the will to be free is the forepart of being free. So here we are, trying to be free. Hoping for your aid, so this intention would become a reality for the class of world artists... Thank you, Ruben."
 
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