Gregory and the Hawk – a premonition of what is to come.
I am not referring to the music of Meredith Godreau, of whom Gregory and the Hawk is a solo project. I am referring to the fact that her music ‘remains label-free thanks to the flexibility of the internet‘.
Now here I thought Radiohead were the ones who were meant to be heralding this shift in the way we get/see music – but Radiohead’s whole ‘pay what you like’ scheme was largely a publicity stunt. The music given online was only ~165kbps, poor quality – considering CD quality is about 320kbps. Also, they plan to release the album with the help of a label, now that many fans have already poured out their pockets.
What a shame.
In any case, Gregory and the Hawk is an example of how, with the introduction of file sharing and sites like myspace and last.fm, ordinary consumers can now be artists and distribute and promote their music on the same level as corporate funded artists. On the internet anyway.
Steal this Film (yes the name is a nod to the book ’steal this book’ but no, the subject matter is not similar) is a documentary that goes through the history and development of media sharing and distribution right through from the middle ages, to its current state, and beyond, to what might happen in the future. It highlights the fact that normal people now have the ability to make and distribute their own work with ease due to the internet and available methods of sharing data.
Steal this film (2) can be found here
Aaaand, well as for music by Gregory and the Hawk, you could always support an (awesome) aspiring artist by going to her official site here, or you could get a waffles.fm, st music or what.cd account and do some downloading.
