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Jeff Tweedy, p2p

Xeni interviews Jeff Tweedy of my current-favorite band, Wilco, talking especially about the band's occasional practice of putting its music online to share with fans. He says I don't want potential fans to be blocked because the choice to check out our music becomes a financial decision for them.

A piece of art is not a loaf of bread. When someone steals a loaf of bread from the store, that's it. The loaf of bread is gone. When someone downloads a piece of music, it's just data until the listener puts that music back together with their own ears, their mind, their subjective experience. How they perceive your work changes your work.

Treating your audience like thieves is absurd. Anyone who chooses to listen to our music becomes a collaborator.

People who look at music as commerce don't understand that. They are talking about pieces of plastic they want to sell, packages of intellectual property.

I'm not interested in selling pieces of plastic.

jon posted this at 9:15 PM
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