My mentor, my hero, and one of my favorite female songwriters is taking on Google and the rest of the tech set for their impending launch into radio frequency wifi. No, not St. Vincent. Nor M.I.A. Not even Loretta Lynn (but very close, geographically). The Queen of Country herself, Miss Dolly Parton, is leading a campaign of artists and live music producers against the FCC vote to free up radio band frequency for tech company consumption into wireless internet. How did Dollywood get involved? Well, I wish I could say it was from The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas. But alas, the much tamer, but still praiseworthy 9 to 5 (musical, catch it on Broadway with Allison Janney!) got her on the list. As a Broadway producer and live musician, she sends concerns about the low frequency bands interfering with the wireless receivers of most microphones used in any live show. Although a great blonde joke would be perfect, this is actually of national concern.
What’s in it for the Valley – Free airwaves that almost everyone has access to. Think national (and potentially free) wifi. Not bad, right?
What’s in it for Musicians – Remember all of those feedback problems you hear at shows? Times that by a million, potentially, and this is what may happen if these low bands overlap.
Of course the FCC will grive priority to the bandwidths that are already owned. But seriously, can they really regulate this thoroughly once they open it up to the tech masses?
See, there are other issues that are important come November 4th. But only one you need to vote for.
Google vs. Dolly: The musical, I mean, the article.
Another slight set back in the record industry embrace of technology. Warner steps away from their YouTube contract for streaming artist videos. Sad. I really was hooked on YouTubing that 4 Minutes video, Madonna. Warner is still honoring the video streaming contract at MySpace though. So, it seems like a bit of a personal grudge with the unquantifiable and suprisingly low monetizeable video sharing pinnacle.
Burn by Ray LaMontagne