At work I do enjoy when music CDs I selected eight years ago still get checked out by patrons of the library. It validates that I have good musical taste and therefore I am cool. However the way people listen to music has changed greatly and now most stream off of websites like Spotify, YouTube, Amazon Music, and others. Less than a decade ago you needed to have a downloaded copy of a song to use in an edit. People would back up their CDs and put borrowed CDs on their computer. So to have a collection of songs on your computer helped for edits, and my guess DJs would have a big collection on their computers. Music copyright with edits seems to be evolving and that’s what I’ll cover in this post.
Years ago I tried to make a skate edit with Prince’s 1999, and although the music wasn’t blocked right away within a few weeks it was. With a Led Zeppelin song the sound was blocked right away. There was a gray area of what songs could be used and what songs could not. For edits it was kind of a gamble. You could have thousands of songs in your Itunes cue, but still not be sure which one to use. Without being able to use the music available in your Itunes cue it felt less important to build a personal collection. On my new laptop I haven’t used Itunes which is Apple Music now. I’m not sure if you can upload from Apple Music onto a Imovie for an edit or not anymore. But hoarding music on your computer or laptop is not necessary anymore, unless you’re a DJ.
I pay for YouTube premium, and Amazon music. I have a Spotify account solely for the reason Bumble asks for one on profiles. Since I don’t use Spotify much it has generic classic rock as my favorites on Bumble. To look cool on Bumble is not a good enough reason to have three music streaming subscriptions. The YouTube Premium is beneficial because without commercials you get music, music videos, skate videos, and everything else on youtube. Amazon Music is good to listen to full albums. These are streaming services though, I could not download a song and put it on my own skate edit. At least I don’t think I can. Even if I could it’s not worth the gamble of getting music blocked. It is a copyright thing, and even if the musicians are millionaires they created that sound.
A few nights ago I was bored and in my facebook notifications it stated something about being a digital creator for facebook professional. I think I read it wrong but I thought it said to get 1000 views in a month and you can get paid. So I signed up for it, and it even asked for tax info. These reels have a music search, so for 90 seconds you can add a soundtrack to it. Reels have been around for awhile on instagram and facebook, but seem to be getting more popular. I think it’s good for skaters and other creatives to be able to have a soundtrack. Looking further into it I think it’s more like 100,000 views to make money. Also I probably can’t compete with college models and the insanely high level of skating on social media. So I’m not sure if I’ll post daily or not. And my facebook is not a private as it was before, so I’ll need to be careful what I post. I did take off my birthday.
In addition to making edits, I’m a fan of music. With the new technology everyone can be a fan. There are thousands of recommendations online. Every streaming services has algorithms to recommend music to their customers. It’s easier and better than the olden days when something came on the radio or MTV you jotted the song down when the DJ mentioned it. Then a trip to the mall and buying the tape or CD. Back then music enthusiasts would read The Rolling Stone, Spin, or other magazines to keep up with new music. Now it’s easier, and can all be done from home.
Three things remain the same though. One, it will always be an amazing feeling when a new song connects to the listener. Secondly, a good live show beats listening to it at home, and I hope to go to some shows in the near future. And thirdly, musicians are called rock stars because the are the biggest influences in popular culture, and put a soundtrack to the times.
A few weeks ago Taylor Swift hit a record with 10 songs in the billboard top ten. It was a record that beat something in 2021 but before that the record was with The Beatles. A few weeks later only one of the Taylor Swift songs was in the top 10. I think Taylor Swift is talented and a great musician. But will her impact be as big as The Beatles was? Time will tell, but my guess is the streaming and downloading are a different beast than the traditional album sales and radio play statistics.
Below is one of my reels on instagram. I couldn’t figure out how to embed from facebook. The program I joined is Facebook reels, and the count there is much higher. The content is the same, so it’s confusing.
