Blought #33: DMCA vs Music Pt. 2

In part 1 of this piece I explored my legal understanding of the DMCA and what it means for the music business. The concerns of piracy and illegal distribution of content has led to the increasingly strong push for digital only music. Streaming also seems to be the industry’s fix a flat approach to curbing piracy.

Personally I believe this is a bit of a twist-arm approach. On one hand subscribers have access to millions of songs by countless artist. On the other hand not all content is available through all services. For example Jay-Z’s debut album Reasonable Doubt is not available on Spotify.

The streaming industry is enjoying exponential growth as competition increases. Companies like Pandora and Spotify have been joined by Apple Music and Tidal as the newest horses to the race.

Blought #32: DMCA vs Music Pt. 1

When Kanye West announced the release of his latest album The Life of Pablo I was ecstatic. Sadly it came with a rather large asterisk. Not only did Yeezy announce that the album would be released exclusively in digital format, but that he was also only releasing it through Tidal. Thankfully the album was made available on Spotify but I’m still not able to complete my collection of Kanye’s physical albums.

Of course this issue is bigger than Kanye. After a bit of digging I’ve drawn the conclusion that the music baseness is moving away from physical music releases. This past spring over 400 musicians, mangers and labels signed a petition urging congress to make changes to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act or DMCA.

The DMCA was unanimously passed by congress before being signed into law in 1998 by President Bill Clinton. At the time the internet as we know it was still in its infancy.  The DMCA was created as a provision to protect an artist’s work from being illegally distributed on the internet.

Blought #27: Cable's Deathbed

The model used by Adelphia for my family's cable box from

the late 90's the mid-late 2000's

As far back as I can remember my mom always had a cable subscription. I can remember watching old Nickelodeon shows like Legends of the Hidden Temple, Rugrats and Fox Kids’ X-Men on a black tube TV.

Then came the big clunky cable box. Now I could watch the animation giant Cartoon Network and their Emmy award winning programming (See Blought #11: The Evolution of Cartoon Network) along with a slew of HBO and Starz channels.
I remember sifting through the guide in awe that I didn’t have to watch the TV Guide Channel anymore to find out when something was coming on. Even better, by that time I was 6 and able to read a description about the upcoming episode of Sponge Bob or Dexter’s Lab.

Then 2008 happened. Mom took some employment hits and our cable subscription was severely downgraded, and I’m pretty sure we weren’t the only American family to cut down on our cable during the Financial crisis. It just so happens that around that time my mom began to get these weird red envelopes in the mail and inside would be a DVD. At the time I had no clue what Netflix was.

Blought #26: Why Did Trump Meet With Black Pastors Anyway?

Trump (Center) accompanied by Dr. Darrell Scott (right)
Courtesy of: USAToday.com

 A few days ago Donald Trump shook up the media and news world when he announced that he had gained the support of 100 Black pastors and religious leaders from all over the country. Not long after that the facts became clear. Only about 50 or so pastors showed up to his meeting at Trump Towers with several of them signing endorsement cards for Trump‘s campaign.

What caught my attention was the fact that two pastors from Ohio were in attendance and here’s why. Ohio is usually a battleground state. Dividing the black vote has become a key strategy for the right wing with gerrymandering. Dr. Darrell Scott of New Spirit Revival Center Ministries Inc. based in Cleveland Heights, Oh was vocal in his support of Trump’s campaign.

Blought #20: Responsible Ohio's Oligopoly

Yes on Issue #3 votes by county

Like Drake I’ll admit it, I’ll admit it . Young Langston enjoys smoking the herb. When legalization started to happen in various states around the country I was like “Hell Yeah! We have to be next up.” About a year or so later I heard about a proposition called Responsible Ohio. that would legalize weed in my home state. Sadly as more and more of the facts came out I found myself on the fence.

My pros were simple; legal weed, can’t get arrested for any amount under 10 grams and dispensaries which meant dabs and edibles. The con was all alone but it was a big one. A marijuana monopoly.

Blought #16: How to Keep a Great City Great

This past Saturday I was fortunate enough to be invited to the Greater Cleveland chapter of the National Association of Black Journalist conference at Tri-C‘s auditorium. The NABJ hosted the conference, titled ‘Covering Comeback Cities. The list of speakers included  NBC WKYC-TV's Russ Mitchell, Fox-TV’s Charlie LeDuff of The Americans With Charlie LeDuff; Ohio Congresswoman Marcia Fudge; Cleveland Mayor Frank L. Jackson; Cleveland Police Chief Calvin Williams; and Chuck Stokes, Detroit's WXYZ-TV Director of Editorial/Public Affairs and son of the late Mayor Louis

It was a great atmosphere for a young writer like myself  to network and make connections. It was also an opportunity to gauge where my city was headed. Before the first panel started  Mayor Frank Jackson took the podium to share a few words. He talked about how Cleveland has spent billions of dollars to upgrade the city and how that wouldn’t be enough. There is a cycle of “boom and decline” that has to be broken.  The Mayor finished up by saying that “A great city isn’t based on the billions spent. It is what we do for the least of it. We need to make prosperity available for all.”

'The Mouthwatering Taste of Success' by Brendan Whitt

Ethan and Indians Co-owner Paul Dolan

Anyone who has ever been successful in anything had to have one key character trait, perseverance. Whether it’s LeBron going to the gym before most of us have hit snooze, Jay-Z knowing that a drug dealer could become an all time great rap artist and business mogul or President Obama fighting his way to the White House as a black man. Perseverance will always get us through the rough and uncertain patches in life.

When I first heard of Ethan Holmes and his story I was inspired. I saw a guy who looks like me, is from my city and was on his way to the top. Ethan has always had a passion for business. He and a friend had a lemonade stand as children which they later made mobile and he even sold chocolate bars to classmates at Shaker Heights High School.

Then at 15 the idea hit him. “Why not start an applesauce company?” he thought. The market wasn’t saturated and he didn’t like the taste of Motts and other brand’s applesauces. “They’re flavors were just sugary and bland” he said. Ethan had been inspired by businessman Farrah Gray’s Book ‘Reallionaire’ given to him by his godmother.