Bas Grasmayer 's Techdirt Comments

Latest Comments (253) comment rss

  • On the post: Soundcloud Tells Guy It Needs To Kill His Account Of 8 Years Because Someone Else Trademarked His Name

    Bas Grasmayer ( profile ), 01 Mar, 2017 @ 02:19pm

    Re: Re:

    Exactly. I've tried to establish a timeframe, but that's only something that I could use to get the trademark declared void in court... Which I would probably have to do in the US and don't really want to spend money / energy on.

    Until then, Soundcloud's incentive is to make legal risk assessments based upon a system that really needs to be changed.

  • On the post: Dutch Government Supports Encryption, Opposes Backdoors

    Bas Grasmayer ( profile ), 06 Jan, 2016 @ 02:54am

    Re: Re: Why can't smart people solve this?

    Yet they see no problem with handing over bulk info about bank transactions to the American gov't..

  • On the post: EU Moves To Create Internet Fast Lanes, Pretends It's Net Neutrality By Redefining Basic Words

    Bas Grasmayer ( profile ), 30 Jun, 2015 @ 10:27am

    Re: >>> "I assume you're ... calling all of those writers "Messiahs" who are each the only person warning of these dangers?"

    AND AGAIN, the test is no harm to existing services.

    Sounds like a prediction.

  • On the post: EU Moves To Create Internet Fast Lanes, Pretends It's Net Neutrality By Redefining Basic Words

    Bas Grasmayer ( profile ), 30 Jun, 2015 @ 10:25am

    Re: Masnick against "innovative services on condition that they do not harm the open Internet access"!

    He's not claiming anyone doing the deciding is an idiot. If anything, he'd be claiming those people are treating their citizens like idiots. Obviously this is the result of smart lobbying and negotiation tactics.

  • On the post: Sell Features, Not Songs

    Bas Grasmayer ( profile ), 26 Jun, 2015 @ 02:57am

    Re: Baby…bathwater…?

    They'll live side by side, so sure. I just expect the music format for default consumption to shift to adaptive (songs can even be 99.5% the same).

    But yeah, static recordings have a place.
    Sheet music didn't go anywhere either.

  • On the post: Sell Features, Not Songs

    Bas Grasmayer ( profile ), 26 Jun, 2015 @ 02:31am

    Re: Go fuck yourself Bas Grasmayer

    Hey, you have some good questions, and I want to address them, despite the unnecessary expletive in your subject line.

    So tell me Bas why should we replace the limiting model of recorded music with the limiting model of neurobeats?

    This is not necessarily about neurobeats. Those form a small part of this, and a part which is pretty difficult to monetise for mosts artists for the time being.

    Because the tittle of this article is misleading as you are not interested in all the various ways features can be made around music production and listening.

    I am very interested in that. That’s what I do on a day-to-day basis. I just wanted to put the perspective a little bit further. What music will be 20-40 years from now, starts today.

    This is just the new spin on the record industries model of maximizing profits which itself was a new spin on the sheet music industries model of maximizing profits.

    Great. Because that worked. They found something which was better than what was there before, and they found a way to massively grow their industry.

    How does this expand what commercial music can be if you are just poring the definition of it from one culture of gatekeeping and containment to another?

    Earlier in your comment you mention I suggest only one feature: this is false. I get what you mean, but that’s not what a feature is. There are many features mentioned, but indeed one paradigm: offer users an experience that’s better than free by selling features. Give them a real reason to pay. We have computers in our pockets more powerful than the computers on our desks 5 years ago. That’s radical. We need to utilise this opportunity.

    What about live concerts over Twitch or other streaming services where people pay for the artists performance and interaction in real time?

    Or how about the various music artists that are independent workers and provide making music on demand the same way some some fanart and deviantart artists provide their work for making on demand posters, images and comics?

    Great business models, that I expect to stay around and live alongside adaptive music.

    For music listening you also offer only one feature: music that adapts and adjusts to the listeners state of being. Tell me if most people can’t tell the difference between 5 hours of recorded music and 5 hours of adaptive music why does adaptive music have more value over recorded music?

    That’s not 1 feature - that could be a huge range of features with a massive amount of different applications (I don’t mean ‘apps’). Also, this is not about adjusting to the listener’s state of being necessarily: it can adjust to weather, to distance from destination, to amount and type of ambient noise, it can be interactive so people can play around with it, etc.

    The point about not being able to tell the difference that Michael Breidenbruecker was making, doesn’t mean that people don’t have a better experience - it means people don’t know if they’ve been listening to adaptive or recorded, and nothing more. His point also serves as a direction for anyone thinking of producing music in this direction: you have to find a reason for your music to be adaptive. I think that’s very important.

    Also since the music is adaptive how does it adapt to the listener?

    Does the listener set the mood he/she/zie/their/it want the music to take them to?

    Or does the manufacturer of the music design the way the music adapts to any user by using the cloud?

    And if it is the designer who decides which adaptations the music does and doesn’t use what are the safeguards against abuse of that power other than the author would not abuse his/her/zis/theirs/it’s own art for financial and other gains?

    Features! Those first free questions: that’s where you’re uncovering the many potential features around this type of music. You can get creative with it - there’s no 1 way to do it.

    As for the last part: contracts. Although I consider the designer and composer to be the same person. The composer will need to work with teams, possibly. And teams are governed by the same thing bands and their management are governed by, so once more: contracts.

    How is the buzz surrounding neurobeats in the early parts of this century different from the buzz surrounding music records in the early parts of the last century?


    This is an interesting question, mostly because it reveals you have complicated concerns about today’s music industry and the future thereof. I would love to hear your perspective on it.

  • On the post: Sell Features, Not Songs

    Bas Grasmayer ( profile ), 26 Jun, 2015 @ 02:05am

    Re: The Song is paramount

    Hey Anonymous, I agree!

    The song is important. However, the song itself can become slightly adaptive also. I don't mean to say music will become a randomly generated soundscape... There will still be songs, there will be recomposition rules. Songs can be 99% every time you hear them, and many listeners might not even notice the slight variations based on whatever factors.

    What I mean to say is: you're right, and I think these concepts are not mutually exclusive.

  • On the post: Sell Features, Not Songs

    Bas Grasmayer ( profile ), 25 Jun, 2015 @ 02:22pm

    Re:

    Don't tell me what to do.

  • On the post: NY Times Unimpressed With Any Online Protest That Doesn't Rattle The Earth's Very Core

    Bas Grasmayer ( profile ), 17 Feb, 2014 @ 04:00am

    Re:

    Wrong site

  • On the post: NY Times Unimpressed With Any Online Protest That Doesn't Rattle The Earth's Very Core

    Bas Grasmayer ( profile ), 17 Feb, 2014 @ 04:00am

    To be honest, I think the NYT has a valid point, but poorly phrased and explained.

    When I found out about the action, I was initially excited - "yeah! this is the day we fight back! ok what's the plan?"

    Sign a petition. Put a banner. WTF? Not worthy of the word 'fight'.

    Doing _something_ might be better than doing nothing at all, but what this is is controllable dissent, which democratic governments need to assert legitimacy.

    The day we fight back should mean everyone setting up encryption for all the mailboxes of your friends, teaching people about Tor and VPN. Activism. Not signing a lousy petition. We need radical change.

  • On the post: In Memory Of Aaron Swartz, A Day Of Action Against The NSA

    Bas Grasmayer ( profile ), 10 Jan, 2014 @ 01:03pm

    Re: Oh, the irony

    "it's a self-perpetuating surveillance mechanism that [the NSA doesn't] even have to pay for"

    You could say the same for the web as a whole.

  • On the post: Missed Opportunity: Beastie Boys Should Have Supported Viral Parody 'Girls' Song, Rather Than Claiming Infringement

    Bas Grasmayer ( profile ), 25 Nov, 2013 @ 10:34am

    It appears now that the Beastie Boys asked for explanation from the makers, since they decided long ago to not let their music be featured in any commercials.

    As for the company: I figure they did this to provoke more publicity... and they definitely succeeded.

  • On the post: 'Video Games Do Not Cause Violence,' According To Former FBI Profiler

    Bas Grasmayer ( profile ), 01 Mar, 2013 @ 08:09am

    I blame lobbyists and politicians that want to distract us from more important issues or have an interest in preserving the status quo which leads to the actual causes.

  • On the post: Embedding And Linking Deemed Infringing In The Netherlands; Downloading… Not So Much

    Bas Grasmayer ( profile ), 27 Dec, 2012 @ 11:34am

    You missed the part where 'blank media' has now been extended to cover smartphones and hard drives as well. :(

  • On the post: Infographic: People Will Pay To Support Creators, Even When Free Is An Option

    Bas Grasmayer ( profile ), 12 Dec, 2012 @ 11:08pm

    Re: Re: Re:

    Maybe you should start paying for being able to comment on Techdirt, because obviously you value it...

  • On the post: Google Asks People To Speak Out Against ITU's Attempt To Takeover Internet Governance

    Bas Grasmayer ( profile ), 22 Nov, 2012 @ 04:17am

    Intentional misinformation in the video, for what I think is dramatic effect.

    They claim Russia jailed Pussy Riot for a YouTube video, but they were arrested before even leaving the scene of their performance.

    I agree with the message but intentional misinformation annoys me. It's terrible enough not to have to mislead people. Besides, this is likely to touch a nerve with most Russian audience, who then will be less likely to take action, perhaps because they'd feel it looks like US propaganda.

    Really disappointed by this.

  • On the post: Ever Wanted To Present At One Of The Music Industry's Key Events?

    Bas Grasmayer ( profile ), 20 Nov, 2012 @ 04:24am

    Re: sheesh

    They're doing some photo competition also.

  • On the post: UK Looking To Cement Its New Anti-Free Speech Reputation By Arresting Man For Posting Photo Of A Burning Poppy

    Bas Grasmayer ( profile ), 13 Nov, 2012 @ 01:22am

    Re: Re: I should get my mind out of the gutter

    YEAH! So insensitive! Take narcissus to the gallows! [/UK Govt]

  • On the post: UK Looking To Cement Its New Anti-Free Speech Reputation By Arresting Man For Posting Photo Of A Burning Poppy

    Bas Grasmayer ( profile ), 13 Nov, 2012 @ 12:22am

    Arguably worse than what some countries the UK loves to criticize are doing, such as Russia.

    And the thing I see government representatives saying over and over again here in Russia, is that their measures are in line with many Western / European policies...

    The easiest way for us, as the West, to lead by example, is simply by not being hypocritical.

  • On the post: Me.ga Domain Pulled Out From Under New Kim Dotcom Venture

    Bas Grasmayer ( profile ), 08 Nov, 2012 @ 01:31am

    Did you notice that shortly after the .ga gov't seized the domain, some hackers managed to get a hold of it?

    http://torrentfreak.com/me-ga-hackers-were-real-pirates-well-sell-dotcoms-domain-to-universal-121107/

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