Each week, I summarize my adventures in making music. Lately, I have been composing tracks for the Disquiet Junto, the Naviar Records Haiku Music Challenge and, this year for the first time, Weekly Beats. I also bring together the perspective I shared in posts on social media (currently Mastodon) about the music industry. These thoughts are intended to come from me as a consumer of, and participant in, the entertainment business. However, I cannot completely separate the thoughts I generate from the part of my brain I use for my day job as a lawyer experienced in technology contracts and intellectual property who is currently dealing with the challenges presented by artificial intelligence.
My Music
This week I had the chance to complete two tracks.
First, I completed a track called Two Dreams for the Naviar Haiku Music Challenge. This was an exceptionally difficult track to complete. The day the challenge started, we had to put our two family dogs down. They were at the end of their lives and we were able to do it at home in the most humane way possible, but it has still been extremely sad for me and my family. As it is known to be for many musicians, making music was a form of therapy for me. I was able to harness my emotions and focus them toward my creative energy. I cannot say the song is a direct reflection of those feelings because it is somewhat upbeat when I was really down most of the week. In the end, the result is not what matters most to me. Rather, I am happy that I was able to do the work and use art in a productive, healing way. The title of the track came to me when I thought about this and is my way of dedicating my effort to two good dogs.
Next I completed the annual Audio Journal project for the Disquiet Junto. This is a project that repeats every year, so I knew it was coming and could plan ahead more than most weeks. My track for the 2022 Audio Journal was actually my first submission to the Disquiet Junto. All the audio recordings I used to create that track came from unfinished projects I made that year. This year, my submission for the 2023 Audio Journal contains parts from twelve finished tracks. I completed many more throughout the year, but without projects like Disquiet Junto and Naviar Haiku I would not have the motivation or support to do so.
Music Business, Intellectual Property, Artificial Intelligence
There are many articles like this one in the news lately talking about how Mickey Mouse is going to be in the public domain. I watched a show on Disney+ the other day and on the screen before it started was a large Disney logo and a small square showing a brief animated segment of the iconic “Steamboat Willie” version of Mickey Mouse. To me, this is clearly an attempt to establish rights in that animation under #trademark law before the copyright expires. If successfully established, trademark rights can potentially last forever and it is possible for a trademark to consist of motion or sound.
There will usually be more entries than this in future posts. But it has been a long holiday week. I am looking forward to getting back to a somewhat normal schedule and making this blog a part of it.