“Movies for Music” (moviesformusic.org) is an online film contest with a simple aim: to give the public a clear and honest look at the music industry. The more people know about the major labels and the RIAA, the more they’re ready for a change.
The contest is open to short movies in any digital medium, including video, flash animations, and flash slideshows. If you’ve got skills and you wish the music monopoly would disappear, here’s your chance to make a difference. The first prize is a ZVue portable video player and runners up will get Downhill Battle t-shirts. Learn more.
Video Artists and Animators: Music is in your hands
The future of the music business is up for grabs right now (like you haven’t heard). The Big Five record labels have had an unfair monopoly for decades but it’s finally starting to crumble.
The problem is that the labels are two years into a relentless public relations propaganda campaign. Through their US enforcement unit, the RIAA, they want to convince the public that filesharing is criminal and that pop music would end if their monopoly falls.
In both cases, the opposite is true. But if the majors – Warner (US), EMI (UK), UMG (France), Sony (Japan) and BMG (Germany) – win the PR war and continue to use their political friends to advance legislation to make file-sharing a federal offense, their monopoly just might survive.
And that’s where you come in.
We need to show people how the music industry really works, and convince them that now is the time to make things change. This isn’t a dream any more: the more that people learn about the organized corporate music industry, the less they want to keep it on life support. If the major labels collapse, payola will end, the filesharing lawsuits will stop, and unfair major label contracts will disappear. Most importantly, independent music will finally have a level playing field.
They say a picture is worth a thousand words. So what’s a moving picture worth? The right video or animation can illustrate these issues better than any other medium. You can learn more about the music industry at Downhill Battle and p2pnet, and then show us what you have.
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