How would you like to have MeFi Music?

April 10, 2003 3:57 PM

The MetaFilter Music channel. I've got another server setup with loads of bandwidth, so I was thinking of this as a new project/feature at MetaFilter: A place to download and stream music created by MetaFilter members. Would anyone be interested in taking part? Do that many MetaFilter members create music?
posted by mathowie to MetaFilter-Related at 3:57 PM (128 comments total)

Wow. No, I do not create music, but yes I would be interested in "taking part", ie downloading that made by my esteemed colleagues.
posted by Hildago at 4:09 PM on April 10, 2003

Is "willing to give it a listen?" enthusiasm enough?
posted by MiguelCardoso at 4:22 PM on April 10, 2003

I'd post, fwiw.
posted by eddydamascene at 4:23 PM on April 10, 2003

I'm Sting. Talk to my lawyers.
posted by ColdChef at 4:33 PM on April 10, 2003

By which, of course, I mean that I'd love to hear the music MeFi members make.
posted by ColdChef at 4:34 PM on April 10, 2003

I make a bunch of noise. Quite talentless diatribe, really.
posted by angry modem at 4:37 PM on April 10, 2003

yo kid I lay down some sick ass rhyzimes kid I's put them all up in yo meta dome peice, beyotch better than icy hot stuntaz
posted by trbrts at 4:47 PM on April 10, 2003

I would absolutely freakin' post my music to it.
posted by cortex at 4:49 PM on April 10, 2003

Yes! I'm in, I'll proudly donate a pile of my music to be played (provided you play nice and provide a low bandwidth stream for us modem moles).
posted by Jimbob at 5:00 PM on April 10, 2003

i've got an absolutely storming mp3 that i made up all by myself, its the best thing since sliced bread so it is.
No im not joking, it really is.
I tried to give it to jonmc on mirc but it wouldnt transfer,this would be good for me as i use acid and soundforge to make things up and it would be nice to hear what people thought of works in progress.
I dont know if this will ever get off the ground but i would be chuffed if someone wants it emailed to them.
posted by sgt.serenity at 5:11 PM on April 10, 2003

I would be more than happy to listen and enjoy!
posted by ashbury at 5:22 PM on April 10, 2003

Sounds neato.
posted by eyeballkid at 5:23 PM on April 10, 2003

Oddly enough, I made my very first piece of (quite crappy) 'music', also with Acid (software, rather than braincandy) last week, but it was almost entirely ignored by the people I made it for.

*shakes operatic mock-Shatnerian fist at the sky*

But then (*scheming*) would remixes of Chomsky speeches and stuff qualify as music these days? Then I'm in!

I'm so out of touch with the kidz of today.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 5:23 PM on April 10, 2003

Also, a scant second too late for my last post, would you consider more of a mediafilter kinda scenario, Matt, with home grown visual arts as well?

'course that starts to sound a lot like The Site That Must Not Be Named, I guess.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 5:25 PM on April 10, 2003

sounds good,
you could post mp3's and short films to it .
Would be a good testing ground for things.
We could have had mp3's of the nyc meetup ...but oh no...they wanted to go to a dive bar .......eh?
the site that..........i hate alfred douglas , dont you ?
posted by sgt.serenity at 5:32 PM on April 10, 2003

Alright, cool. I'll set the space up then post instructions here (or in a new metatalk thread, depending on how long it takes).
posted by mathowie (staff) at 5:39 PM on April 10, 2003

Na, music is a big yawn.. I think it should be turned into a sort of user controlled late night talk back radio server. Set it up so people can get on their PC microphones and send a shoutcast stream (or whatever) into the server, that is then streamed out to all the listeners.. as the discussion continues, people can hop online and put their own point across. Every hour could have a different MetaDJ keeping the discussion going.
posted by anthonyjhicks at 6:13 PM on April 10, 2003

i'm totally into it, even though i always hit the threads late.
posted by folktrash at 6:17 PM on April 10, 2003

Ok, I guess if anyone is interested in putting their music on this site, you'll need to create two bitrates for your MP3 files, one at 128kbps, the other at something more modem friendly, like I suppose 56kbps.

Toss all your mp3s into a zip file, put them on a server somewhere, then email me where I can download them. Also let me know your username when you email me, I'll order them using that. If you don't have a server, email me and I'll give you a temp login somewhere.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 6:20 PM on April 10, 2003

this is a great idea...i can't wait to see what everyone's done!

(and email yours to me, sgt!)
posted by amberglow at 6:27 PM on April 10, 2003

[this is good]
posted by dg at 6:38 PM on April 10, 2003

Can we put up our friend's stuff with permission?
posted by thirteen at 6:58 PM on April 10, 2003

Matthowis, 56k isn't really "modem friendly" - for instance my 56k modem will not connect any faster than 52,000 bps, and assuming i want bandwidth left over to browser mefi with, 32kbps is a resonable bitrate. Songs coming your way by tomorrow, though.
posted by Jimbob at 7:06 PM on April 10, 2003

Ok, 128k and 32k files would work.

thirteen, dunno yet on friends of members. I don't know how big this will get, but let's hold off and see how it grows first.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 7:19 PM on April 10, 2003

I just got my new solid-body 12-string from Carvin today!
posted by mischief at 7:21 PM on April 10, 2003

fwiw, I liked the wonderchicken's debut so much I stole it.

How much more love do you need, man?!?

And yes, this is good.
posted by yhbc at 7:39 PM on April 10, 2003

oh matt, you know I like this idea! *MUCHO KISSO*
posted by mcsweetie at 7:53 PM on April 10, 2003

Hmph. How about non-music sound files, too? Mefi poetry slam, anyone? Also, if anyone needs drum tracks, I'm available. I don't have MIDI, though, so what good am I? On the other hand, I'm shy. Maybe bad idea(s).
posted by Shane at 7:54 PM on April 10, 2003

I have a ton of homemade experimental stuff I'd love to share. Good idea, mathowie.
posted by dhoyt at 7:56 PM on April 10, 2003

Sarge, I'd love to hear your stuff. For some reason I imagine Shooglenifty meets Ministry. But I'm sure I'm totally way off.
posted by Shane at 7:58 PM on April 10, 2003

It would be cool if people could just dump their audio output somewhere no matter what it is, for something cool and eclectic. Poetry, music, experimental, weird noises, no matter what. Dump 'em all in a directory, set the appropriate mp3-casting software to play them at random - I think it's something that needs a lot of content, and frequently updated content, to work well.
posted by Jimbob at 8:05 PM on April 10, 2003

I've got some stuff friends and I did in college that I would consider including, if I can find some time to get them in the required format. What's the deadline for getting files to you, Matt?
posted by jazon at 8:21 PM on April 10, 2003

Who's in the Bay Area and can help me record a couple of bad things I wrote. And if you could do some drum tracks...
posted by billsaysthis at 8:21 PM on April 10, 2003

Matt, you just keep comin' up with da shit! Count me in, although all my solo stuff is analog and I'm pretty sure I don't have the stuff to convert it. But if we're in a band, and we get the other folks' permission, I assume that counts... right?
posted by soyjoy at 8:39 PM on April 10, 2003

excellent update!
posted by MzB at 9:52 PM on April 10, 2003

Ah, I see. Well, never mind about the visual media idea, then, not that it looked as if it was going to get a reply anyway.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 10:12 PM on April 10, 2003

mathowie-Just like Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in baseball, someone is going to have to stand up to the RIAA, at the risk of killing any chances of ever getting signed themselves.

Tell me I didn't just read that.
posted by anathema at 10:12 PM on April 10, 2003

i am so up for this.

count me in.
posted by cheaily at 10:39 PM on April 10, 2003

Yeah, I have a bunch of original tunes I would contribute. Sounds like a great idea. Promise me Migs won't sing though.
posted by lazaruslong at 10:42 PM on April 10, 2003

Hell yes. I've got plenty of crazy new music we've made. Think ambient-glitch-electronic-guitar-ballads.
posted by Espoo2 at 10:49 PM on April 10, 2003

"Tell me I didn't just read that."

You did, but it's not too late to come back from the dark side, anakinanathema!
posted by mr_crash_davis at 10:50 PM on April 10, 2003

stavros- FWIW I put my user vote in the mefi visual art gallery- just because groovesalad gets first dibs on my eardrums when i be decking.
posted by elphTeq at 10:50 PM on April 10, 2003

I just hope people don't try to get mefi memberships just to pimp their music.
posted by mcsweetie at 11:02 PM on April 10, 2003

Tell me I didn't just read that.

I tend to be overly dramatic in my writing sometimes.

...you know, like that time I refused to let that person cut into the grocery line? That was just like Rosa Parks' struggles. Exactly the same thing and I know what it's like to be her now.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 11:55 PM on April 10, 2003

MetaFilter: Home of America's whitest civil rights icon...
posted by wendell at 12:43 AM on April 11, 2003

Power to the Filter right on!
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 1:37 AM on April 11, 2003

Ya'll are gonna love my electric polka.

And a one and a two and...
posted by jabo at 1:42 AM on April 11, 2003

um, i like this a lot. and, did i mention that i really like this a lot? fortunately for the listener, but unfortunately for the listenee, i am both musically inept and at a loss for any way to compose and/or record music. but i can appreciate! and one of my most favorite things ever in the entire world is to find earfriendly nobody-knows-of music to play on radio shows. for i cannot create, but i can disseminate. and appreciate. and i like this.
posted by carsonb at 2:05 AM on April 11, 2003

oh, and so when does the MeFi Records Comp go on sale?
posted by carsonb at 2:07 AM on April 11, 2003

Now available on CD:
"NOW THAT'S WHAT I CALL METAFILTER, VOLUME I"
from the same people who brought you
"MEFI MOODS"
and
"MEFIES BUT GOODIES"

I am REALLY not taking anything seriously enough this week
posted by wendell at 2:45 AM on April 11, 2003

"A FIST FULL OF MEFITES"

(I once had a (commercial)(punkabilly?) compilation tape called 'A Fist Full of Pussies,' which I recall loving inordinately, although I can't remember a single damn song that was on it.

[/autobiography])
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 3:03 AM on April 11, 2003

THE BEST METAFILTER ANTHEMS IN THE WORLD... EVER! (volume 42)

Me either. Gone from depressed all week to hyper today. Not BiPolar, so my gf is blaming it on too much salt last night. Hmmmm Popcorn!
posted by twine42 at 4:13 AM on April 11, 2003

I'm going to second a call for talk/information radio as well. Imagine a program put together by the likes of iconomy, plep or juju, talking about the wonderful things out there on the web (i.e., not "talk radio" in the Imus idiom) -- which would be exactly in the MetaFilter idiom, and thus a perfect match. Or imagine interviews with the creators of the sites we link to. That'd be a good fit.
posted by mcwetboy at 4:45 AM on April 11, 2003

I've got a Casio SK-1, I've got a mike, I've got a chord. I'm in!
posted by soundofsuburbia at 4:52 AM on April 11, 2003

Exactly the same thing and I know what it's like to be her now.

Well, since you put it that way it makes a lot more sense.
posted by anathema at 5:18 AM on April 11, 2003

*checks ebay for small mixers, used gibson blueshawks and some gizmos like this. wide grin spreads across face*
posted by quonsar at 5:30 AM on April 11, 2003

oh, and um, what about a repository for mefite's homegrown pr0n?
posted by quonsar at 5:35 AM on April 11, 2003

That's 'visual arts', q.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 5:37 AM on April 11, 2003

soundofsuburbia: Matt let you in on his secret music project before you chose your handle, didn't he? I declare unfair advantage!

Me, I'm working on The Pisse Artistes [featuring the Whore Bloguettes] Play The Very Beste Of Steven Den.
posted by MiguelCardoso at 5:52 AM on April 11, 2003

"MEFI MOODS"
and
"MEFIES BUT GOODIES"

For one scary moment, wendell, my scattered brain combined these into:

"MEFI MIDIS"

*brrr*
posted by rory at 5:52 AM on April 11, 2003

It's time to polka.
posted by rocketman at 6:13 AM on April 11, 2003

In concurrent news, the iTunes Universal Music channel? I sense a trend.
posted by liam at 6:45 AM on April 11, 2003

Man I should have been reading MeFi instead of programming... Anyway, I'm willing to contribute. I love making and listening to free music!
posted by webratta at 7:16 AM on April 11, 2003

Miguel: Yeah, me, banjotwang and AccordionGuy all got the heads up!

I hope Edith Frost will partake in all this.
posted by soundofsuburbia at 7:17 AM on April 11, 2003

Since I love to make people's ears bleed with my singing, I'll cheerfully offer up some songs!
posted by michaelbrown at 7:20 AM on April 11, 2003

I'm in on the producing/technical/helping side. Worked in community radio for eight years.
posted by tranquileye at 7:29 AM on April 11, 2003

It's time to polka.

I'm more of a tango person.
posted by walrus at 7:29 AM on April 11, 2003

I've got my band's new CD ready to go. Let me grab some MP3-burning software this weekend and I'll have some tunes ready for you by next week. (PS - anyone have recommendations on software for creating MP3s?)
posted by tdismukes at 7:54 AM on April 11, 2003

Question - will MusicFilter have facilities for providing comments or feedback on the music? It'll be more worthwhile for me if I can see evidence that someone is actually enjoying my music.
posted by tdismukes at 7:56 AM on April 11, 2003

That's 'visual arts', q.

Ahhhhhh...stavros, now I see why you felt so strongly about that suggestion.
posted by soyjoy at 8:01 AM on April 11, 2003

tdismukes: Soundforge is pretty good if you're on a PC.
posted by signal at 8:09 AM on April 11, 2003

I'm more of a tango person.

We do some of that too. This guy and this guy are in a band with me, along with some other people. Our primary genre is polka, but since we don't pay attention, it often bleeds into calypso, ska, tejano, rock, funk, and Götterdämmerung.

tdismukes: I make MP3s with CDex. At least on a PC. iTunes for the Mac.
posted by rocketman at 8:26 AM on April 11, 2003

Dammit. fugged that link. I meant this guy.
posted by rocketman at 8:28 AM on April 11, 2003

Here are some quick recaps, after getting some email about this.

- while I'd love to have comments and ratings and such, this won't do that. it'll just be a place to share music made by mefi members with others. no big deal.

- 32kbps is about the quality of AM radio, so forget creating content at that low of a bitrate. Prepare 128kbps mp3s and leave it at that. People on modems can download instead of stream if they want to hear the songs.

- if you're not a mefi member, don't ask to become one. it's supposed to be a project for existing members, which makes no sense if people want to sign up just to pimp their music. This site isn't a music community and isn't aiming to be one, it's just some space for existing members that already post their words here, to share their side music projects.

- if you have a lot of music, limit it to your favorite tracks only, or the ones that most people will like. Think quality over quantity.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 8:41 AM on April 11, 2003

Well, this sounds great, but I will have to see if the geeks in my household can show me how to transfer my stuff from the keyboard(piano) to the computer... I bet I have to buy a cord or something.

But barring technical ineptitude, I'm in.
posted by konolia at 8:47 AM on April 11, 2003

Think quality over quantity.

Definitely. I was already planning on including more of the Götterdämmerung, less of the calypso.
posted by rocketman at 8:55 AM on April 11, 2003

I think a music channel is a great idea. For those of us who make computer-synthesized music (ala max/msp and pd), perhaps a patch-sharing aspect could be involved.

This would allow us to share generative music as well.
posted by Pinwheel at 8:55 AM on April 11, 2003

What an excellent venue this will be for my new song and my upcoming full length release!
posted by padraigin at 9:25 AM on April 11, 2003

Any opportunity for DJ's?
posted by mattr at 9:29 AM on April 11, 2003

RingTones?
posted by DBAPaul at 9:59 AM on April 11, 2003

i've got some stuff to contrib
posted by pinto at 10:10 AM on April 11, 2003

Seriously? I got stuff.
posted by padraigin at 10:13 AM on April 11, 2003

Any opportunity for DJ's?

Sure, if every piece of music you are mixing is yours. Don't bother contributing a mashup of two chart-topping bands, as I don't want to take on the liability of hosting copyrighted material that you don't have the rights to make.

If you mean DJ in the "rockin' jock in the morning zoo" sense, well, it's just a directory on a server with files on it, and doesn't need/can't support someone playing a set of tunes.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 10:15 AM on April 11, 2003

Are covers allowed?
posted by wackybrit at 11:01 AM on April 11, 2003

I was already planning on including more of the Götterdämmerung, less of the calypso.

Why not combine it into apocalypso?
posted by kirkaracha at 11:07 AM on April 11, 2003

- while I'd love to have comments and ratings and such, this won't do that. it'll just be a place to share music made by mefi members with others. no big deal.

FWIW, I feel this is a mistake. Other than the undeniable fun of listening to other MeFinks' musical creations, what could make this really take off is the ability to talk about them, give the artists feedback, compare with other music, etc. In other words, have it be more like Metafilter and less like Memepool.
posted by signal at 12:11 PM on April 11, 2003

per what signal said, if we can't have the discussion right there along with the music, could we add a MeTa category so we could discuss it here?
posted by soyjoy at 12:17 PM on April 11, 2003

i have stuff too. count me in.
posted by Spoon at 12:18 PM on April 11, 2003

<selflink warning/>
You are free to use any or all of these Onalaska songs for this project. I wrote and sang these songs.
posted by tomharpel at 1:09 PM on April 11, 2003

Much as I really, really, really would like to have a discussion board with the music, I understand if that would be too much work for Matt to implement. At least I hope we would have a place for the artist to provide a little bit of text info about the songs, as well as an e-mail address for those who would like to provide feedback for the artists.
posted by tdismukes at 1:32 PM on April 11, 2003

Hmm, I spy a different feature for MusicFilter here :-)
posted by wackybrit at 1:35 PM on April 11, 2003

Why not combine it into apocalypso?

'Cos Mental As Anything beat you to it.
posted by sennoma at 2:03 PM on April 11, 2003

I think a music channel is a great idea. For those of us who make computer-synthesized music (ala max/msp and pd), perhaps a patch-sharing aspect could be involved.

Pinwheel: check em411 for patches like that... it's my other haunt.
posted by Espoo2 at 2:19 PM on April 11, 2003

Duuuude, this is gonna RULE! I had no idea there were so many musical MeFites, and I can't wait to explore everyone's stuff!
posted by padraigin at 2:21 PM on April 11, 2003

just as long as it doesn't leak out into the rest of metafilter...

th3ph17, i agree with the first thing you said, though the later arguments you make just plain suck.

Oh, and your song sucks as well. Learn how to play guitar for real you moron.
posted by th3ph17 at 2:31 PM on April 11, 2003

This sounds fun. I may have to actually finish some of the dozen or so half-finished projects laying around on my firewire drive.
posted by Mars Saxman at 2:39 PM on April 11, 2003

Damn on the no-more-32kbps. AM radio is so retro, it's cool.
posted by Jimbob at 3:06 PM on April 11, 2003

Beta Band, meet the MeTa Band.

This is good. Count me in for contribution. Also: Will covers be permitted? I do a great 'Tainted Love'. DMCA nastiness?
posted by armoured-ant at 3:08 PM on April 11, 2003

Napfilter.
posted by Espoo2 at 3:25 PM on April 11, 2003

mathowie sez: I don't want to take on the liability of hosting copyrighted material that you don't have the rights to make.

Means no covers, surely.

Also rules out my only musical contributions: Weird-Al-ish song parodies I used to do for radio stations (them BMI/ASCAP licenses were good for avoiding rights issues in the old 20th cent). Still proud of a few, like the 1990 Oliver North rap song: "Funky Cold Marine"...
"I love to do... the Wild Thing to... the U.S. Constitution"

And long ago, I did a telephone answering machine message based on Hall & Oates' "Out of Touch" that got the phone service's equivalent of slashDOSed ("You have 437 messages..." all but 4 blank)
NOT coming soon to the MeFi HiFi..
posted by wendell at 3:33 PM on April 11, 2003

I write show tunes... if you're not scared of turning gay I'd be glad to share!
posted by adrober at 3:35 PM on April 11, 2003

Promise me Migs won't sing though

I, for one, am all for hearing Miguel sing. Either a nice Portuguese fado, or some kinda jazz-cocktail thing where he could be wearing his silk bathrobe and smoking his cigar and crooning into the microphone. In fact, I demand this.

Seriously, a great idea. I want to hear people's spoken word stuff, too, should they feel like uploading poetry.
posted by jokeefe at 3:42 PM on April 11, 2003

This essay by Clay Shirky makes the case for applying collaborative filtering to music. Although it's meant for a larger purpose than friends sharing their own tunes, it's worth thinking about.


As for me, I'd love to contribute, but my stuff's not-quite ready for primetime, as it were.
posted by O9scar at 3:42 PM on April 11, 2003

Using the MeFi authentication system and requiring a login to download the material would be an effective way to skirt the copyright issue, wouldn't it?
posted by modofo at 4:22 PM on April 11, 2003

Using the MeFi authentication system and requiring a login to download the material would be an effective way to skirt the copyright issue, wouldn't it?

no.

You can't use something copyrighted without the author's permission. basically
posted by victors at 4:42 PM on April 11, 2003

I'm a little late to this particular party thread, but I'd like to participate too. I still have some crap over at mp3.com but time hasn't been very good to it. If I find time in the near future, I'll make some newer stuff that hopefully turns out a little better. I've been meaning to do so, but have never found a decent place to submit it since mp3.com went to the dogs.

I'd like to be involved in something that's akin to Show Talkers or This American Life or The Hour of Slack. An internet radio show that featured submissions from MeFi participants the world over. Not just music but also rants, funny skits, music reviews and anything else we all came up with. Canned stuff which on the surface doesn't appear to look like it'd go well together, but if properly edited together by someone talented, would actually be quite an eargasmic experience.

Funny weirdness that could be compiled and edited by one or more MeFi participants who took raw source materials from many of us and combined it all together into something that was formatted to be used by any radio station with the balls to broadcast it. It probably never would go anywhere, but the format and presentation would be professional, and it'd involve the effort of many talented people. Something we could all be proud of, even if the teeming masses never get it.

Think of it. Matt (or probably somebody with more time on their hands) would act as the "emcee" and host of the show, introducing each bit like a combination of Ed Sullivan and Ira Glass. Then each accepted contribution would be given it's moment in the sun, and there could be 'commercial breaks' thrown in with show ID carts and other stuff. Make a series of a half dozen or so half hour 'episode' and see if it sank or swam. We could just call it MetaFilter Radio, or something more snazzy.

Actually, someone else could write out the "copy" for each bumper segment, and send Matt the script. ask Matt to say a few sentences for each piece into a microphone, he could record it on mp3 (might take a half hour or so for him) then he sends it to whomever is actually gonna edit the whole thing together. Or maybe Matt would just record a few words for the open and close of each episode, which would be identical each week, and then someone else would be the actual emcee. I mean if it'd say "MetaFilter" in any way, it should have his stamp on it, but realism dictates the process would have to take into account he'd have about enough time to devote to it as one normally sets aside for a good crap session with the porcelain god. The real engineering work would have to be one a you guys. Preferably an audiohead with a lot of free time and creativity oozing out all his (or her) orifices.

Of course it'd have to start with Matt just throwing everything people submitted onto a server. Put all the raw source material in one place, then someone with bigger balls than Yul Brenner could drudge through it, find enough material to make a few half hour episodes, and bob's your uncle.

By the way, parodies and satires of copyrighted material are fair game. You'd still run the risk of getting sued if your efforts actually became popular enough to be brought to the attention of those parodied, but eventually the suit would get thrown out of court. Of course, you'd probably lose your shirt with the court costs and lawyer fees, but unless the cover was a direct rip of the original with no actual creativity involved whatsoever, you'd probably be okay.
posted by ZachsMind at 6:10 PM on April 11, 2003

Does this include spoken word stuff too? I've got some really snarky Iraq related musings I'd love to share. Actually it's just me reading some MeFi threads out loud with funny voices for each different user. Problem is, the voices all sounds pretty much the same, it's basically Winston Churchill arguing with himself about Bush. Kind of trippy actually.
posted by blue_beetle at 7:00 PM on April 11, 2003

So long as you do my voice as a bad impersonation of Christian Slater I'm cool with it. Or maybe Jamie Far...
posted by ZachsMind at 7:03 PM on April 11, 2003

You people are just trying to get me in trouble, right?
I haven't done my "character voices" for so long I had to re-test them here at my home desk, and in the last five minutes I've gotten very strange looks from (1) my wife (2) the apartment manager AND a cable repairman and (3) my dog. I do now know that my old Paul Lynde has matured into Frank Bielec from 'Trading Spaces', my Bullwinkle and Yogi Bear are now indistinguishable from each other, and my Peter Lorre is more likely to get me arrested than recognized.
posted by wendell at 8:19 PM on April 11, 2003

cool. this is a cool idea.
posted by mokey at 12:57 AM on April 12, 2003

I don't create music, I create dances. Who is going to let me use their music free of charge? I'm sick of paying for copyright licences!
posted by Tarrama at 1:16 AM on April 12, 2003

All my music is available free of charge, Tarrama. Copyright is for sissies. Wait 'till the funky tracks appear on Metafilter music channel.
posted by Jimbob at 2:12 AM on April 12, 2003

matt did you get the mp3 ?
posted by sgt.serenity at 2:19 AM on April 12, 2003

Thanks Jimbob, can't wait till this all gets started.
posted by Tarrama at 2:47 AM on April 12, 2003

Yes, I'd like to do that. Be great to hear responses from the throbbing collective. Maybe allow a little genre-sorting though - you don't want any unnecessary abuse or flaming when a Nu-Metaller reacts badly to a RnB wannabee (cough, cough). Or maybe we do. Anyway, worth the experiment-o.
posted by theplayethic at 3:27 AM on April 12, 2003

Jimbob: You can give something away but still have it be protected under copyright.
posted by ODiV at 7:54 AM on April 12, 2003

Or even (gasp!) use a Creative Commons license.
posted by Vidiot at 10:19 AM on April 12, 2003

I think it could be for music, spoken word, videos of dances, anything the MeFi community can imagine. And personally I prefer mixing up the genres and doing a bit of everything, but perhaps how the material is organized and presented for general consumption would depend on what's provided by the community at large, and it's simply too soon to predict that. There may not even be feasibility for actually making a compilation thing, if each submission stands on its own. I just think it'd be really neat if we could do something like that. I'm waiting for the Internet to someday present audio & video by common ordinary folk as easily and effortlessly as we now throw up text.
posted by ZachsMind at 12:29 PM on April 12, 2003

if its legal.
$$$ YA.
i would buy an mP3
because
it always sounded futuristic.

ZAKFILTER-" Piped my eye, this is streaming"
posted by clavdivs at 1:03 PM on April 12, 2003

(No pun intended upon Zachsmind member #558, the referent was for "musak" which any further discussion should be handled through attorney consultation)
posted by clavdivs at 1:05 PM on April 12, 2003

*shiver down the spine*

ZACH: (whining baby voice) Mathowmie! Clavdis is dancing all over my grave again! Make him stop!
CLAVDIS: Tattle tale! (punches Zach in the shoulder)
ZACH: Ow! You meanie! (punches Clavdis in the shoulder)
posted by ZachsMind at 1:55 PM on April 12, 2003

I don't mean to steal Matt's thunder, but those musical MeFites who just can't wait may find somesongs and song fight worth a butcher's.
posted by stuporJIX at 2:02 PM on April 12, 2003

Clavdivs, I do not believe you just use line breaks randomly. I think you have some criteria for determining how many words go on each line, and further I believe if we could figure out the algorithm you're intuitively using it would help predict the stock market and create encryption so strong it could never be broken. If you would like to help me in my research in exchange for a modest salary please contact my office on monday morning. :)
posted by Hildago at 5:34 PM on April 12, 2003

My $.05 dutch guilders: this is a great idea. I'm excited about it as both a listener and musician.
posted by weston at 8:43 PM on April 12, 2003

My $.05 dutch guilders

Ah, the Dutch guilder. Here's to a great, lost currency.
posted by The Jesse Helms at 8:50 PM on April 12, 2003

The most beautiful bank notes in the world. Gone. GONE.
I here by curse the euro and its children and its children children and all the little euros that the world has not yet seen.
posted by ginz at 1:08 PM on April 13, 2003

THE DUTCH RULE!
(best painters ever)
.
posted by clavdivs at 5:18 PM on April 14, 2003

I sent Matt a URL of where I put this zipfile for my rambling so people could cut up my words and make me sound like an idiot with really cool music in the background but with 20/20 hindsight I'm kinda glad Matt hasn't gotten around to posting it to music.metafilter.com cuz I mean what I offered him just isn't musically inclined. It needs music.

Now, I COULD just do a voiceover over someone else's music, but I can't LEGALLY do that without permission, and I asked one of y'all permission in private and was politely turned down. Rejection: what a concept. So that's a nogo.

Another possibility would be to post the URL of where I put the zipfile of mp3s here, and hope that some talented MeFite whose always wanted to twist my words around and make me sound like the idiot I am would download it and make music history. However. Well, firstly I don't offhand remember where I told Matt I put the thing, and second if by some slim chance a lot of people tried to nab it at the same time (probably out of that cat killing curiosity if nothing else), then it might crash the server which means the really sweet lady who keeps my online journal online for me might get a little peeved.

So I dunno. But whatever, it doesn't belong in music.metafilter.com. Perhaps it just doesn't belong. I knew I shoulda stuck to my piano lessons when I was a kid.
posted by ZachsMind at 1:49 PM on May 6, 2003