Changing the rules

Internet Piracy and copyright infringement on-line is rife, even though the glamor of reporting it has diminished sufficiently for it to have almost dropped away into obscurity (except for the odd tale of someone else being sued by this or that group). The old way of doing business in the music industry sees the industry trying to keep control over who owns what, and who is allowed to do anything with something they thought they owned. It is not working. A clear message over the past few years has been, “Something has to change.”

When faced with rules, conventions, “laws”, there are two main ways of circumventing them. The first, and the most common method, is to break them (which tend to come with adverse consequences). The second, mostly used by visionaries and great leaders, are to change them.

The story of FOSS (Free and Open Source Software) is a shining example of how people have brought about change by changing the rules of the game, rather than breaking them. For anyone unfamiliar with the old way of doing things, and the change that occurred there is a great book called “The Cathedraland the Bazaar.”

Here now is a new story about change in the making, inspired by the FOSS philosophy, about a group of people “hell bent on changing the music industry”... Severed Fifth.

From the website:

“Founded by Jono Bacon in 2008, Severed Fifth blends together Bay Area thrash with British metal, all the while infusing their wide range of influences, and delivering a tight, competent, rhythmic attack that has a constant heavy undertone. If you like metal, you are going to like Severed Fifth. 

Severed Fifth is not just another metal band though, but they are changing how the music industry works. Led by founder Jono Bacon’s philosophy, Severed Fifth make all their music freely available under a permissive license, helping to bring their fans closer to the band, and encouraging fans to use Severed Fifth content in their own creative work. Severed Fifth’s vision is a music industry that is fairer for bands and fans. “

Now for those unfamiliar with Jono Bacon, he is the Ubuntu Community Manager and also the author of such works as The Art of Community, a guru of community if there ever was one. Together with Jim Adams, Ron Crockett and Ben Gibbs, they form Severed Fifth, and they need us to assist them in bringing change to the music industry.

Just like GNU/Linux has grown from strength to strength, being supported by communities the world over, Severed Fifth is slowly growing a community of fans world-wide, connected by a shared enjoyment of the music the band makes and being united under a common philosophy of change.

In Jono's own words:

“The main goal I have with Severed Fifth is to begin a groundswell of interest in the music world by creating a successful example of a Free Culture band that is successful using (1) freedom of access to the content (this enables fans to share the music and helps get more people interested in the band) (2) growing community (our community is at the heart of everything we do - and we are growing the global Severed Fifth Street Team and the Regional Street Teams to help with this) - our community contributes in so many ways, and (3) encouraging people to remix and use the content in their own projects - we have seen examples of this in YouTube Videos, in video games, and more.”

Examples of fans using songs and samples of Severed Fifth songs have already surfaced, from ring-tones to songs featuring in a video game. The universal appeal of community can be seen in Street Teams springing up across America, in the UK, Germany, even in places like the United Arab Emirates.

Jono continues to sum up Severed Fifth as follows: “The plan is fairly simple - make Severed Fifth a successful example of a Free Culture artist so other artists can point to Severed Fifth and say 'if those guys can do it, so can we!'”

The FOSS movement has not changed the way the software landscape looks completely, but it has definitely changed the rules enough to make it look a lot different, and with bands like Severed Fifth, and a host of other like-minded individuals marching forth in unison, who knows how different the music industry will look in a couple of years. And in both these cases, be it FOSS or a band like Severed Fifth, there is something that each and everyone of us can do, join the community, share in it and help shape the future.

(Just some info, this post has been earmarked to appear in the next edition of Full Circle Magazine due to be out on the 25th of March... check it out, each edition is crammed full of Ubuntu and other FOSS goodness)
UPDATE - The article can now be seen in issue 47 of Full Circle Mazazine - Check it out here!