Anderton Posted June 8, 2001 Share Posted June 8, 2001 Noticing a lot about Madonna on the AOL home page lately? Hmmm, AOL owns Time-Warner, which if you go down the food chain far enough, leads you to Maverick records, which just happens to be...surprise!...Madonna's label. AOL also bought large blocks of tickets to her last tour, offering them as contest prizes and incentives for people to sign up. Now, I'm not necessarily saying all this is evil. We do the same sort of thing at MusicPlayer.com. For example, our parent company owns Backbeat Books as well as us, and we have an agreement where we can post content from the books online, in return for a link to the Backbeat Books site. So, everyone wins: we get content to keep our site well-fed, you get to read cool content, and Backbeat Books gets some free promotion. No problem there. But this Madonna thing underscores the concerns people have that conglomerates will greatly reduce the flow of information. "A piece on Stone Temple Pilots? Nah, we don't own them. Let's do a Madonna retrospective instead." Slowly but surely, we are moving toward a kind of life that mimics communist Russia in the 60s, where your options were few, as they were limited by the state. But this time, our options will be limited by giant, multinational conglomerates who have very specific agendas. The big difference, of course, is that if you're found with a non-Madonna CD, AOL-Time Warner isn't going to send you off to the Gulag. But as has already happened with Hollywood, we can expect to see ever-increasing concentrations of power going to an ever-decreasing number of entities. Craig Anderton Educational site: http://www.craiganderton.org Music: http://www.youtube.com/thecraiganderton Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/craig_anderton Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dylan Posted June 9, 2001 Share Posted June 9, 2001 Yep, everyone's in bed together. I find it hilarious that the DOJ is suing Microsoft over a freakin' web browser, yet they haven't blinked an eye at the AOL/TimeWarner merger. Hmmm.... -Dylan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David R. Posted June 9, 2001 Share Posted June 9, 2001 Craig, this is the kind of stuff that scares me. Another example, the same company that owns the T.V. network also manufactures large quantities of weapons for our government. What do we see on T.V.? A very effective missle going down a chimmney and destroying a target. What we don't hear about is how many mis-fires, how in-accurate the same missles were. And how much each one costs us taxpayers. Instead, the call goes out to buy more from GENERAL ELECTRIC because everyone saw how accurate they were. Madona has her own missles she is trying to sell. -David R. -David R. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nawor Posted June 9, 2001 Share Posted June 9, 2001 Have you guys heard about the class action against AOL over Version 5.0 of their internet software? Somewhere in the vicinity of $8000,000,000.00 and rising I believe. This is as a result of AOL 5.0 taking over everything "dial-up" on your PC and basically preventing the use of any other ISP software or dial-up connections that are not AOL and then invariably corrupting other applications and Windoze itself. Three of my friends insatalled AOL 5.0 and as a result I had to format their PC's, reinstall Windows and start again. As soon as AOL 5.0 detected a conection attempt using by another party's application it would fire up and jump in over the top usually resulting in lockups and blue screens. The only way to use another application was to disable AOL from starting OR uninstall it altogether resulting in a crippled PC. Of course after doing the latter I found it had 'trashed' all the other dial-up stuff in the process and invariably corrupted Windoze as well. THEN I recently got a phonecall from one of these guys who, after fixing his computer, I told him NEVER to touch another AOL product with a barge pole. Why a phonecall you may ask... why NOT an email? Well he says "I'm having problems with my computer again." When I asked him if he's gone and installed AOL 5.0 agin he said no of course not... he installed AOL 6.0... and guess what? TRASHED AGAIN!!! ARRRRRRRRGHHH!!! DO NOT touch this software!!!! It is insidious, evil and takes away your freedom of choice. Even when it was being used it was incredibly resource hungry and annoyingly commercially intrusive. More popups than you could poke a stick at! This message has been edited by Rowan on 06-08-2001 at 08:04 PM "WARNING!" - this artificial fruit juice may contain traces of REAL FRUIT!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alphajerk Posted June 9, 2001 Share Posted June 9, 2001 AOhelL, fuck that. you are always being manipulated and lied to. you have been programmed and assimilated... its a brave new world and i prefer to live among the savages. alphajerk FATcompilation "if god is truly just, i tremble for the fate of my country" -thomas jefferson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rold Posted June 9, 2001 Share Posted June 9, 2001 There has GOT to be a grassroots boycott of the multinationals, otherwise we'll be driving them to competitionless power, at which point they can do pretty much anything they want. WalMart is a great example: move into a town, set up identical displays selling the exact same products that the mom and pop stores do at a fraction of the price, put the indie store out of business and jack the price tags up higher than the indie had them originally. They keep doing it until all the indies are out of business, and then they have the community by the balls. That's just one of the more obvious examples, but it happens all over the board. Buy indie! Trade in convenience, price and sometimes quality for the peace of mind that 50 years from now McDonald's won't be owning your grandchildren's schools and teaching them their corporate agenda, WalMart won't be selling you your overinflated studio gear without competition, and AOL won't be solely dictating your entertainment! Also, Nov. 24 is buy nothing day. Buy nothing on the busiest north american shopping day and let the multinationals know their corporate brainwashing isn't working anymore. The bottom line is NOT more important than the quality of life of our future generations. Peace, Harold http://www.adbusters.org/ PS thanks craig for posting the above - good stuff to know.. http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/smile.gif meh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stratman_dup1 Posted June 9, 2001 Share Posted June 9, 2001 AMEN, AHHHH SAY CAN I GET AN AMEN, PREACH IT BROTHUH HAROLD. That ain't no shit, the sad fact is that the american people have allowed this to happen, and continue to allow it to happen every day in the name of convenience. Hell, We've got 3 Wall-Marts in my area all ready, guess what?? Their getting ready to build yet ANOTHER one, yeah we really need FOUR wall-mart stores around here. The bad part is the local neighberhood voted against having it built, but the developers paid enough people off so there going to go ahead and zone it anyway. So much for the common persons vote counting huh, just pay the right people off and you can do whatever you want. One thing you have to remember about the whole windows thing is that the government probably wasn't getting a big enough piece of the pie to suit them. Can anyone even begin to guess how much AOL-TimeWarner has put into the pockets of poloticians??? As far as Aol goes, I think I'll just say AAAAAAAAAAACCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKKK!!! It is a very fine line between capitalism and communism, and it is my opinion we get further across it every day. And from what I can see the majority of the population can't be bothered enough to really give a shit, that is the truly sad part. How many have died so that we can live in a supposed *Free* nation?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Worthington Posted June 9, 2001 Share Posted June 9, 2001 Originally posted by alphajerk: AOhelL, fuck that. you are always being manipulated and lied to. you have been programmed and assimilated... its a brave new world and i prefer to live among the savages. Amen. Proud to be a savage myself. jw Affiliations: Jambé Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chip McDonald Posted June 9, 2001 Share Posted June 9, 2001 Originally posted by alphajerk: AOhelL, fuck that. you are always being manipulated and lied to. you have been programmed and assimilated... its a brave new world and i prefer to live among the savages. AOL's stupid upgrades have wasted more of *my* time than anything else, thanks to friends installing their "upgrades" and something not working right. I remember one "upgrade" that apparently disagreed with just about every computer I cam across... "I don't know, I didn't do anything to it, I was just upgrading AOL and it stopped"... Walmart: 3 in my area, building another despite not having a need. They're wiping everyone out, and the funny irony is that all the rednecks think they're "Buying American" shopping there thanks to their early propaganda - *nothing* in there is made here. I suppose nothing actually *is* made in the U.S. anymore, but.... .. and I just heard about King George's buddies doing the power brokerage thing in Texas, holding rights over areas expected to have high temperature forecasts in the hopes of what amounts to literal extortion of the people through the power companies. "They" have already won. Don't try to fight it, you can't do anything about it, it's too widespread and endemic. Instead, take the nihilistic approach - *encourage* this bs. The *faster* things go to rot the more noticeable it is to the sheep. What's happened is that the U.S. (and most likely the consumers of the world) have been lulled into complacency by the how slowly things are changing that they don't even see it, or realize it's occuring. In this respect I'm grateful for King George, because I know he's going to fall on his face big time, soon - and hopefully it will wake the sheep up. He's going to Europe here soon; even though the whole "CNN is liberal/Fox is conservative" propaganda bs prevents real news from coming to light, maybe we'll get an entertaining gaffe out of the trip... ------------------ New and Improved Music Soon: http://www.mp3.com/chipmcdonald Guitar Lessons in Augusta Georgia: www.chipmcdonald.com Eccentric blog: https://chipmcdonaldblog.blogspot.com/ / "big ass windbag" - Bruce Swedien Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TAZZ Posted June 9, 2001 Share Posted June 9, 2001 Remember "ROLLERBALL"? Remember "A CLOCKWORK ORANGE"? Well me droogies, have some of the old MOLOKO PLUS (sorry Luce!) cause we're already there. RIGHTY RIGHT? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WFTurner Posted June 9, 2001 Share Posted June 9, 2001 >>>It is a very fine line between capitalism and communism, and it is my opinion we get further across it every day.<<< I'm not a capitalism basher, the capitalist system has been bearable thru my lifetime and probably will continue to be for what's left of it. My wife and I, even though we're your very average, poor working class family, we're probably very fortunate to have the chance to live this life of ours when we did. But I started having inklings when I was a youngster in grade school that given the parameters that define capitalism, that something in the definition of a free society and a capitalism society ain't gonna jel somewhere down the road. It'll take centuries, which it has and is doing but capitalism is like a big game of PAC MAN where the economic goodies are gonna get gobbled up by the stronger (ie..richer) players and one day a generation is gonna wake up and realize they're existing in a technology enhanced era of medivalism in which the concepts of "a free society" will be whispered carefully and perhaps even fearfully about and which will fuel dreams of another forgotten concept..... revolution for freedom. We are drilled history as a child in the name of learning our mistakes. We didn't learn the lesson nearly well enough huh? ------------------ William F. Turner Songwriter turnermusic William F. Turner Songwriter turnersongs Sometimes the truth is rude... tough shit... get used to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anderton Posted June 9, 2001 Author Share Posted June 9, 2001 <> Isn't this the same company that upon buying NBC immediately put on a documentary called "Nuclear Power - In France, it Works"? Hmmm. Craig Anderton Educational site: http://www.craiganderton.org Music: http://www.youtube.com/thecraiganderton Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/craig_anderton Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D. Gauss Posted June 10, 2001 Share Posted June 10, 2001 <> yes, but at least madonna makes an interesting poster girl. 60's era russia would only have been able to give us "madonnachev"-- an old toothless, bearded, siberian woman in a black frock (who was no doubt a male KGB agent)....just say da! -d. gauss Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Botch. Posted June 12, 2001 Share Posted June 12, 2001 Craig, the Corporating of America is undeniable, however, as long as the Internet is not controlled I think we'll be OK. The record companies can control what comes out in the music stores and what's played on the radio, but with the Internet I can audition just about anyone, and buy their CD. Likewise, sites like Amazon have listener-written music reviews that don't toe to any corporate orders. While the 'Net has its ugly side, I believe it works great as both a free-speech forum and a way to find others with your interests. What we all need to be vigilant of is corporate or government control/takeover of the Net. WalMart may be able to crush your specialty bicycle shop locally, but as long as you can advertise on the Web you can find your customer base. When WalMart can control what you see on the Internet, then we gotta worry. Here in Utah the Mormon Church/State has created a "Porn Czar", who polices the internet for porn. Now, that wouldn't be so bad except the locals consider masterpieces such as Rodan's "The Kiss" as porn, and won't allow it to be shown. So far, because the Internet is global, our "Porn Czar" can do little but look at dirty pictures in her office (and suck up my tax dollars for her >$55,000 salary) but its something that has to be monitored. Throughout my military career I've been under the oath of "protecting the Constitution of the U.S. from all enemies, foreign and domestic..."; little did I realize the biggest enemies are right here in our own back yard. Botch "Eccentric language often is symptomatic of peculiar thinking" - George Will www.puddlestone.net Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rold Posted June 12, 2001 Share Posted June 12, 2001 Originally posted by botch@netutah.net: Throughout my military career I've been under the oath of "protecting the Constitution of the U.S. from all enemies, foreign and domestic..."; little did I realize the biggest enemies are right here in our own back yard. Worst part is they own the courts too...pretty hard to take some of those guys down...I just finished reading about a copyright theft/judicial perjury/judicial fraud case against coca-cola, which is still tied up in court after years of trying to get across a simple point. Coke owns the lower judge, the appeal judge, and even managed to get one of their own on the plaintiff's team! Pretty sick stuff...details at http://www.guerrillanews.com/ under the Coka-Karma heading. Having said all the above, it's pretty important for any kind of organization to makes it's presence known, and good advertising does a helluva good job. Especially with gear, the name on the boxes/instruments tell people how the musician/machine is getting the sound. But when these huge multinationals put control over the market at their absolute number one priorites over any moral issues, environmental issues, competition laws, etc., a really sick scene starts to unfold and leaves the grassroots holding the toxic bag, as it were. Anyway, sorry for the rant...trying to stay on topic... http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/smile.gif Harold meh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moronix Posted June 12, 2001 Share Posted June 12, 2001 One day the world will be half G.E. and half Disney or something like that. Robert Morin Still at Alesis A numark Corp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillBandstand Prod. Posted June 12, 2001 Share Posted June 12, 2001 More power to Louise. You GO GIRL! At least She has top notich mixing mastering and production. Poor britney...If She only had the BIG tone of Maddona...I may be inclined to buy some of Her work...It really sounds Half assed to me... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D. Gauss Posted June 13, 2001 Share Posted June 13, 2001 <<"Porn Czar" can do little but look at dirty pictures in her office (and suck up my tax dollars for her >$55,000 salary)>> sounds like hard work, but if she ever needs an assistant..... i'm available. -d. gauss Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JES Posted June 13, 2001 Share Posted June 13, 2001 Glad to see a discussion of corporate conglomeration in the media here! This is one of those important political issues that is so rarely discussed. Most people in the U.S. don't even know that the Telecommunications Act of 1996 will sooner or later have a direct effect on them. Internationally, GATT, WTO, IMF, etc. etc. have been bashing down national ministries of culture in favor of transnational capital. And one of the reasons we're being soft on human rights issues in China is because large media lobbyists want them to play ball on international copyright laws and fork over some royalties. The NAB and other corporate media are major policy players, yet they also own the outlets for news coverage of policy. We're so far from a free society we can't even tell. Have a look at these sites for more on media conglomeration and overcommercialism: http://www.robertmcchesney.com http://www.adbusters.org http://www.stayfree.org http://www.benton.org Educate yourself and stay active! Best, --JES, media educator by day Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JES Posted June 13, 2001 Share Posted June 13, 2001 oops! That's http://www.stayfreemagazine.org . Sorry! --JES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trick fall Posted June 13, 2001 Share Posted June 13, 2001 Here in NYC I get to watch several channels owned by Time Warner/AOL, with programming owned by Them, on a cable system owned by them and simultaneously surf the net on Time Warner/AOL's road runner service. Aint life grand! I knew it was all downhill when they let networks produce their own shows. I've personally been hoping the whole electricity thing will really blow up, it's about the only thing that may wake Americans up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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