Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Rolling Stone Calls Rock the Net CD "Sexy!"


Rolling Stone just posted an item about FMC's upcoming CD, Rock the Net: Musicians for Net Neutrality, in which they call it "one of the sexiest compilation albums in some time." With artists like Wilco, Aimee Mann, They Might Be Giants, Bright Eyes, The Wrens, Portastatic, Palomar, BC Camplight, David Miller, DJ Spooky, Guster, Matthew Shipp, The Classic Brown, David Bazan and Vernon Reid's Free Form Funk Freqs, you can see why.

(And, in case you missed them, here are articles in Pitchfork and CMJ).

The album hits stores (old-school and online) on July 29, and benefits FMC's Rock the Net campaign, which raises awareness about the importance of net neutrality to the music community. Released by our friends at Thirsty Ear Recordings, the disc proves that musicians are a big part of the push to preserve the open internet.

Net neutrality is essential to a legitimate digital music marketplace. The current structure of the web lets the biggest companies and the smallest bedroom recording artist exist on an equal technological playing field. But companies like Comcast and AT&T want to charge content providers a fee for the faster delivery of their sites, which could make it difficult for many artists to reach their fans.

The Internet works because it belongs to everyone. All artists — big or small — have been able to use the web as a powerful tool to engage audiences. This all takes place without interference from gatekeepers and middlemen. But if net neutrality goes away, musicians could lose an important connection, and fans could lose the freedom of choice. For more information, check out our net neutrality fact sheet. And if you haven't signed up with Rock the Net, what are you waiting for?

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