Oh my, now I'm imagining a hipster bar that uses "only playing non-copyrighted music" as a way to incentivize all the wannabe youtubers and instagrammers and tiktokers to record their content there.

There is a brewery near me that plays only Grateful Dead and anything before 19-whatever-it-is to avoid needing a license to “perform” it.

Human music!

Boop boop boop. Boop boop boop. Boop boop boop.

That roughly amounts to "avoid all recorded music" right now.

If you don't like music, sure... but I'm not willing to be that ascetic.

No, the opposite. If people in large numbers are avoiding music, then the industry will behave better about copyright. They want people to listen to music.

> If people in large numbers are avoiding music, then the industry will behave better about copyright.

Has there ever been a significant point in history where this has happened? It feels like the opposite happens; when people conscientiously object to the music industry, said industry doubles down on their authority to control music. Radio license agreements, home taping, internet-distribution and now the YouTube/social media era are all punctuated by license-holders reaffirming their control, fair use and popularity be damned.

I have no sense that this will ever happen. More speaking to the hypothetical being raised.

And if that doesn't work they will argue that they must get a cut from every CD, DVD, harddrive, and SSD sale too. Because, you know, me needing more space for my own projects is why the music industry deserves my money.

They behave like the mob.

I listen to a lot of great albums, and my life would be poorer without them. Why would I give up listening to the music I love?

So live music only. Nothing recorded. All original pieces without sheet music or written lyrics. Nothing online or ever via a digital system with a memory function. No portable music players, not even 8-tracks. It would be one big ren faire of wandering bards creating ad hoc songs for coins.

unionize musicians

Like hollywood I expect the music industry is full of unions, perhaps so full they'll come and break your fingers for being a scab.

I was thinking more that it would cause companies to have no choice but to chill out about copyright… but you’re kinda selling me on this vision instead.

I haven't played a piece from sheet music in years, and I still get stuff demonetized. You in fact have to know the common themes well enough to _avoid_ playing things that sound too much like them.