In my research for wikis and collective intelligence, I couldn't help but go back to M.I.A.'s 20 track mixtape that pays homage to Wiki Leaks. It's called Vicki Leekx--one of her new pseudonyms, and she released it as a free download. She's always been an advocate of the site for its whistle-blowing tactics, and the album great demonstrates such.The mixtape takes quotations directly from Assange's interview on the importance of Wiki Leaks:
We chose the right format
We leak the information to the public
And we defend ourselves against inevitable illegal and political attacks
M.I.A. greatly adheres to this idea on the site's importance in a world where the government secrets may not be as iron clad as they used to be.
In addition, she appears to relate to Wiki Leaks subversive use of the Web 2.0 world to her own status as an artist in the music industry. She states in one of the tracks, "I’m not talking about getting it for free. I’m talking about making it freer."
A more in depth analysis of the mixtape in relation to Wiki Leaks along with a free link to the download site may be found here
One of her most recent music videos of the mixtape. Titled "Bad Girls," the music video "Ouarzazate, Morocco in solidarity with the women to drive movement." Take a gander:
Whilst I was scavenging for piracy friendly bands on the Interwebs, I cam across this record label's website. The label is literally called The Collective Intelligence, and it's the project of 8 wide-spread friends. Lucky me. See, collective intelligence is defined by Dictionary.com as "aphenomenoninsociologywhereasharedorgroupintelligenceemergesfromthecollaborationandcompetitionofmanyindividuals. " These guys have just adopted the perfect moniker for their music label. They all collaborate with each other on their projects and band, and they help each other spread the word, fund the recordings, and of course sell the damn music. They have a wiki prepared for all the bands they represent, a forum board for fans to discuss the music, links for the music to be streamed or downloaded (all mostly free), and even set up a FAQ page on their site. How nice of them:
Q: What is the Collective Intelligence? A: Well, that isn't always an easy question to answer, as it is a
lot of things to a lot of people. Simply put, the CI is a group of
eight friends from very similar places (both geographically as well as
mentally) who enjoy playing music together. They've formed numerous
bands and solo and side projects over the years, and continue doing so
to this day.
Q: But isn't the CI the record label of happy-go-poppy bands such as Venus Euphoric and Ultima? A: Well, in a way, that is true. The CI is the mantle over our
collective shoulders, holding us all together where it's warm. The CI
does try to do all it can for the bands and projects to which it lays
claim. But the eight musicians who comprise the bands are essentially
the "staff" of the CI as well.
Q: Could my band sign on with the CI, like I would to a traditional record label? A: Currently, we are unable to accept outside bands/musicians.
It's not really the elitist thing that we're too cool to let anyone else
in, but rather the fact that we barely do enough for our own bands to
justify our existence, and we're certainly not in a place to be able to
help out new bands all that much.
Check it out. The bands are covering an extremely wide range of genres, and they would only ask for a donation to show your support.
It's fascinating to see the morphing of the music industry through the rise of blogging. More and more we see bands setting up obligatory blogs to stream their music in a pre-release effort to promote their music. In the case of the 5 headed beast of alternative rock (They who shall not be named)
This turned the band into legends, for they released the critically acclaimed In Rainbows digitally for free before the physical release. The fans freaked, the industry freaked, the lawyers freaked, but it all worked out in the end. The pre-release gave an opportunity to promote their album to the lazy former Napsters, who of course bragged about the album to everyone they could reach on their grubby little mouses. While the band certainly isn't the first band to do this:
Ending on a good note: Since Trent Reznor seems to be undeservedly cast in the shadow of Radiohead, I'll finish the post with the last known music video of NIN:
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Quisque posuere
ullamcorper leo. Praesent vehicula justo ac est suscipit vitae sodales
massa pharetra. Duis et magna elit, vitae suscipit urna. In commodo
tincidunt risus, eleifend hendrerit odio sagittis mollis. Vestibulum
ipsum leo, gravida non posuere quis, viverra ut nisl. Aliquam sit amet
arcu eget erat elementum condimentum.
Praesent vestibulum felis lorem.
Maecenas id turpis ut dolor auctor viverra eget a quam. Vivamus sit amet
lectus urna, iaculis tempus ante. Fusce vel justo tellus. In hac
habitasse platea dictumst. Aenean imperdiet turpis sed elit mattis
tincidunt. Aliquam mollis elit in nulla blandit ac faucibus nisl
euismod.
Vestibulum ornare sodales odio eu varius. Proin at est lacinia velit
fermentum laoreet eget et diam. Integer ac massa in ante ultricies
interdum. Morbi ullamcorper tincidunt metus, a lobortis metus lacinia
vel. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit.
Pellentesque eget leo sed justo imperdiet imperdiet.
Donec tortor
mauris, porttitor id fringilla a, mattis eu ipsum. Cras nec turpis vel
dolor feugiat rhoncus ac ornare libero.
Donec molestie tincidunt leo, sed mollis odio mollis sit amet. Phasellus
luctus, lectus molestie rutrum ullamcorper, justo diam ornare elit, non
hendrerit arcu massa ut lorem. Aenean rutrum, erat vitae consequat
hendrerit, felis leo tincidunt nisl, non dapibus leo erat id massa.
Curabitur sed orci leo, et porta eros. Quisque mollis leo ornare sem
laoreet commodo. Morbi molestie sodales tellus eu rhoncus.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Vivamus eu urna
nisl. Nulla magna ligula, pretium at euismod sit amet, aliquam ac
dolor. Morbi tempus eleifend sapien, suscipit dignissim metus semper
non. Mauris vel diam ut nunc dapibus ullamcorper.
Donec scelerisque
sodales pulvinar. Phasellus commodo urna non nibh euismod quis
ullamcorper lorem aliquet. Sed tincidunt erat vel magna adipiscing
posuere. Pellentesque vitae diam sapien, a tristique libero.
Sed et lectus nec neque vehicula gravida. Etiam aliquam lobortis dictum.
Sed vulputate tristique tincidunt. Proin convallis mi a odio vehicula
et feugiat felis consequat. Mauris varius, quam at tempor eleifend, nisl
diam ultricies mi, ut gravida augue orci eget massa.Sed justo nulla,
rutrum rutrum hendrerit sed, tempus et arcu.Nulla suscipit commodo
consectetur. Aenean laoreet laoreet pulvinar. Vestibulum vehicula luctus
molestie. Curabitur vel leo enim, ut suscipit leo.
Maecenas mollis, justo et bibendum lacinia, risus orci iaculis velit, in
facilisis massa ante a turpis. Aliquam at erat non nunc vehicula
pulvinar eget eu lorem. Integer eu ligula augue. Ut dignissim porta
nulla, eget commodo urna dapibus id.Nulla tempus nulla a ligula rhoncus
in consectetur lectus feugiat. Duis tempus posuere arcu, eu eleifend
nunc laoreet ut. Etiam velit leo, facilisis id porttitor volutpat,
laoreet vel sem.Sed eu metus neque. In in ante elit, sollicitudin
hendrerit sapien. Donec ultrices cursus ligula vel viverra. Maecenas
dignissim, turpis eu pulvinar semper, nisl libero mollis quam,
scelerisque suscipit purus erat in massa.
