There have been questions arising lately as to whether or not websites should be allowed to host lyrics and tablature from copyrighted music. Website owners and internet users have joined forces in claiming that they should have access to this content- while the music industry is holding fast to their copyrights.
The Debate: Should Lyrics and Tablature Be Publicly Available?
Depending on whom you ask the answer to the lyrics debate will be different. The music industry claims their copyrighted material is being violated. The industry claims that those who buy music in stores will have access to the lyrics, so there is no need for them to be publicly available. As for tablature rights, the industry claims that tablature books have lost sales due to the surge in publicly shared tabs.
But where does the digital music downloads fit in? If a user downloads a single song, shouldn’t they be entitled to the lyrics? In this instance, the publicly available lyrics are helping the consumer, and in no way harming the music industry. Sadly, many music services don’t offer lyrics with downloads- which has led to the creation of services such as pearLyrics.
A cease and desist letter was sent to the creator of pearLyrics, which functions to find lyrics based on tracks playing in iTunes. The creator, Walter Ritter, was forced to remove his freeware module. The module in question grabbed the lyrics from public domains on the internet- meaning the module in question wasn’t exactly illegal. Nevertheless, the music industry shut it down without hesitation.
Loopholes to the Lyric Dilemma
Despite the massive amount of cease and desist letters handed out, we all know that there are hundreds of sources to find lyrics online. This is largely due in part to the fact that many countries outside the United States do not pursue the supposed violators. The result: many lyrics websites are being outsourced to foreign countries.
If the lyrics website in question is hosted in the United States, there is a good chance the music industry has its eye on it. Nevertheless, many US-based lyrics sites have survived and continue to grow. Some lyric sites attempt to barter with the music industry or artists- while others are simply offering lyrics to public domain music.
The Future of Lyric Resources
Lyric resources are here to stay for now. Much like the VCR had caused turmoil among the film industry- the internet is just a new method to simplify life, regardless of what the industry tries to hold onto. We see the VCR as a household item- in time we will most likely see the same outcome with lyrics and the internet.
Logically, the music industry can’t keep up with every lyric website that springs up. Trying to shutdown foreign websites has also become quite a problem for the music industry. Instead of raising controversy, perhaps a more sensible solution should be called for. Compromises will have to be made- and several lyrics websites have already begun attempted negations with the music industry.
It will be interesting to see how the debate develops as time moves on. As for the rest of us, we can still enjoy the freedom to enjoy lyrics to our favorite songs; it doesn’t look like this fact will change anytime in the near future.
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recorded his smash album Silk Degrees. The album reached number 2 on the US charts and number 1 in a number of countries across the world, spawning three hit singles: “Lowdown”, “Lido Shuffle”, and “What Can I Say”, as well as the MOR standard “We’re All Alone”, later a hit for Rita Coolidge and covered by Frankie Valli. A sellout world tour followed, but his follow-up album, the 1977 Down Two Then Left, did not fare as well commercially as Silk Degrees. The 1980 album Middle Man would …
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Haunting! Best listened to with a large Scotch
Thank you Granako for sharing this beatiful clip and info about Boz his talent is timeless .And housecarl16 really mate !!! you need to take a look again your statement is so naive and short sighted.
This is one of his most beautiful songs. It brings a tear to my eye.
I am in New Delhi-India..its a hot summer day.. the over head ceiling fan is blowing hot hot air.. the temp. is soon going to touch 42+degrees C..but listening to this track and seeing this vid. makes me feel cooooll..this is what fine music does!!! and add to it just the right visuals… FANTASTASIC!!!!
Read how good the album was, and esp this song, in the paper in 90s in England. The paper said it was contender for song of the year, then. It was and still is – the song Is timeless You don’t need to know the geography to get this sentiment at all, though, of course, we all relate to the mother nature beauty that is a metaphore. The whole album is great. God bless Boz.
You must be dreaming Aliciaptlaalicia Ive been to Australia and its nothing like California. Australia is a barren scrub land devoid of any natural beauty. Decent standard of living there but no scenery at all.
I love this song! My name is Sierra and my Grandma showed me this song when I was, like, 8!
If you like this song and haven’t listened to much of Boz Skaggs, try his Silk Degrees album. All of his stuff is good, but that is my favorite album.
This is so beautiful it made me cry.
Possibly the IRS or an Entertainment Guild could better direct you. You can contact your local IRS office or one of the Entertainment organizations at this site
http://www.afm.org/resources/labor-unions
Not the best answer–but a start
Its all about looks today, talent seems to have become meaningless. A lot of the greats wouldnt get a contract today bc they dont look hot by todays standards. So all we get is crap musically , its all eye candy. MTV changed things bc music became about visual rather than sound. Most of the great bands are pre MTV era.
From one who was there, it was minimal. Instead, it was more the other way around….protest music reflected popular sentiment among the American youths' peace/anti-war movement, not influenced it. Country Joe didn't convince draft dodgers to burn their cards and run to Canada; he sang about them doing that. And John Fogarty and CCR didn't convince Congress and others to to allow for draft deferrals due to colletge, allowing America's "fortunate sons" to remain at home while to lower classes went to the front lines; instead they sang about the economic disparity of the front line soldiers. The music simply gave yet another dimension to a voice of the the anti-war movement.
HTH
I completely agree. This is why I have been listening to XM Satelite Radio for the last 3 years…
I still listen to regular radio every now and then, but an hour or so later (and after hearing one song 3 times), I no longer listen.
XM or Sirius is THE way to go…
The music industry is a corporate cash machine where marketing and money rules over real talent.
Music has been reduced from an art form to a product to be bought or sold.
Yes, people are lame everywhere and the popular music that young people listen to here in the US is terrible. On the other hand, isn't most popular music terrible?
sadly, it's a resounding yes. Charice Pempengco ought to be another Sarah Geronimo if it weren't for Ellen DeGeneres and Oprah Winfrey. OPM doesn't have an identity with the way it sounds. J-Rock/J-Pop is distinctly unique because it barely relies on synthesizers or turntables, they emphasize the use of all types of instruments like brass, strings, and piano to blend with their specific genre; and it has a certain tempo and rhythm to it. (Flow, Orange Range, Asian Kung Fu Generation, Mr. Children, Skapara, Utada Hikaru, Ken Hirai, Yui… their music sounds unique)
it's not that Japanese Music has worldwide recognition, but it's develoved a following among those interested in their culture especially J-Drama and Anime. their hit singles are ususally made into a show's theme song, and if that show becomes a hit, the artist/band who sang the theme song is recognized.
does talent alone dictate if an artist or band should gain worldwide recognition? of course not. we have a few talented artists here… but the reality is if the Americans don't know them, the rest of the world won't know them.
*edit for Karlo C*
you'll be surprised how poetically deep most Japanese lyrics are when translated to english, it actually makes OPM lyrics look bad.
sample Jap lyrics in english:
"even if it’s light like fireworks, that can never be caught
one more time, one more time… I want to reach out for it."
"the sky I looked up at was blue and perfectly clear, I decided to open the locked window, the moment that changes me and the world is always right here with me."
"may our two winding roads merge here together and become a rainbow."
"where did the burning tears, the outcry of love, the sparkling days vanish off to? if we keep wandering down this aimless path… we'll never go back to the way things used to be"
Maybe for now—-but not forever. If you notice with more and more upcoming artists this country has, plus the ones that are becoming more popular here from overseas—-traditional "black" music is slowly starting to "fade" and/or incorporate other musical genres from around the world. I personally don't care for Rap, RnB or other typical Black music. I can't say what type if music will dominate in the future,but I doubt the African music we know today will.
This question is too generalized.
Even a guess is unlikely to come close because of the sheer number of songs that have actually been produced, let alone published.
The Library of Congress or the US Copyright Office might be able to provide some info regarding the number of songs that have been submitted for copyright protection, however you would have to be able to weed out the songs submitted but never actually produced – this will most likely be an astounding number in and of itself.
Sorry but I haven't a clue where you would start your research in the UK.