Sunday, May 30, 2010

Streaming Music and TheBocX.com

If you enjoy contemporary popular music, especially funk, acid jazz, and downtempo sounds, take time to explore thebocx.com. Phil Dorsey, who puts together the playlists, has an impressive knowledge of these musical forms and a deep desire to share it with the world. One could characterize him as a "curator," although Phil himself would not use that word, and there are some in the visual arts world ready to impale anyone expressing such a notion.

Access to the website is free; no subscription is required.

Streaming music sites such as thebocx.com and others represent a very interesting phenomenon: the bottom-up challenge to top-down distribution models. Sites such as Phil Dorsey's, by their very existence, raise a number of other, pertinent issues. Here are three that come to mind:
1. Individual taste vs. algorithmically-based direction
2. Open access vs. controlled access
3. Artist compensation

You're welcome to share your thoughts on the issues. Of course, I also encourage you to discover thebocx.com.

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