Meant to blog about this earlier but now the dust has settled and no major repercussions (touch wood) the Dean Gray Tuesday as hosted here and many other sites was a definite success.
I shifted 10GB in ONE day alone! Thanks to all that linked to me or hosted files themselves, it was a good statement.
On a more ranty-related note; it was an interesting the debate I had over at Get Your Bootleg On messageboard tho which went as usual as debates about politics over there go.
Which is basically there is a vocal few who don’t think what they do is political and it always amazes me when people associated with something that is fairly transgressive and illegal (if not exactly the same as robbing banks, it’s still not legit) think it isn’t so., and seem to be laissez-faire about the whole deal.
‘Oh I just do it for fun’ or ‘I do it to make people dance’ are well and good reasons; but when the might of Warners is breathing down your neck political arguments like that don’t cut it. And suggesting people don’t fight might be a wise move in the case of one person, (I have suggested that to people who couldn’t fight such a case alone); but it’s different when you’re opposing group actions like Dean Gray Tuesday; because it might upset the record company or the status quo. It just they want to just sit on the fence…have the ‘cool’ benefits of being related to mashups and its scene without actually risking much, and giving reactionary advice of ‘well it’s illegal, so you shouldn’t do it, so quit yer bitchin’ – it’s a very conservative position to take.
I kknow the type: they support any rights than don’t affect me and are fashionable (gay rights, womens rights, racial equality, my right to make mixes and bootlegs, don’t get me wrong they are all well and good and worth fighting for) but don’t come and ask me to put anything on the line, brother. Even for those causes.
It’s like “I support X Y and Z”; but what do you actually DO about it? I’m as guilty of that in the past; one of the reasons I got involved in this was to shake such lethargic apathy, I do need to do more. And that does mean getting off your arse and risking something.
As I said in the Dean Gray thread; actions are what matters, everything else is just noise (I should have added ‘including what I say’ but didn’t; but I hate couching statements with self-depreciation since it’s a bad nervous english habit I have).
Weirdly the other worlds I inhabit – beardom, podcasting etc. seem more tolerant; or happier to think; or maybe they just ignore my rants better, or haven’t gotten bored of me yet, I dunno.
And I’ll never apologise for bringing politics into anything; ever again – since it was there to begin with, it’s not my fault if someone is so blinkered they don’t want to see that.
Sorry getting ranty – the important thing is that despite a few nay-sayers Dean Gray was a success; and interestingly doesn’t seem to have had any major fall-out.
Maybe Warners didn’t want a McLibel or Metallica/Napster or Beatallica on their hands? Or are the lawyers waiting to pounce around the corner…
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