Is music a product or a service? At the moment it is both - and I think that is where the problems lies. When a product can be transmitted as information via the web it is no longer necessary for it to embody the packaging it may have once thrived inside. In the case of music, distributing music over the web is here to stay because it is much more efficient.

This same transformation has already occurred with newspapers and hand written letters. So it would be easy to argue that music has now become an internet service similar to The NY Times Online and Gmail.

One of the side effects having content on the internet is that it can be used by others without the creator’s permission. It becomes a public good. Just like the roads we drive our cars on, it is difficult to restrict something we all have access to.

Currently, songwriters take in 8¢ per song every time music is purchased (and most often the publisher will take half). Now the RIAA and record labels are pushing to lower that rate to 6¢ per song.

Songwriters fighting for fair wages? This scenario reminds me a bit of the television writers’ strike going on right now, where those involved are fighting for a residual 0.6% per DVD sold (up from 0.3%). The Alliance of Motion Pictures and Television Producers has refused to meet the writer’s needs and left TV viewers with fragmented television series.

The difference I see between these two groups is that TV writers need the producers. Not surprisingly, producing a television show involves a much larger budget than producing a song. It takes a great effort from the studios to orchestrate the cast, sets, and equipment – and to fund the project.

But music is different. Music production and distribution costs have dropped dramatically in the past 10 years. If anything, the labels should pass some of this savings on to the musicians and songwriters. Instead they are siphoning pennies from the writers.

The RIAA will have a difficult time justifying a need for cutting the royalty rate. As a songwriter, I see this as a last stand – and reason to cut the RIAA out of your life all together.

The Flashbulb, aka Benn Jordan, became so outraged when he discovered that iTunes was effectively pirating his music, that he uploaded copies of his latest album to BitTorrent. TorrentFreak caught up with Benn to learn more about the decision to stop distributors and ‘coked-up label reps’ from getting all the cash.read more | digg story

It’s pledge season for NPR once again. Chris Anderson’s shares his thoughts on funding specific NPR shows - rather than the entire station - and how this trend may be stirring in other areas of our media.  Read This Story