View Full Version : what happened to Bluegrass box
luvmymando
Aug-16-2006, 9:19am
I have been hitting the box lately looking for the recent Rockygrass shows to show up... it kept saying unavailable.
Then I picked up in the Rigel closing thread that it was shutdown and then that some fiddle player from 3foxdrive shut them down. I went to their website just to see who they were and low and behold I know the mando player... or used to when I lived in Ohio.
What happened? is it really gone?
kidtwist
Aug-16-2006, 10:18am
I heard that they shut it down because of the expense of running it, and someone is going to take it over with a new name.
luvmymando
Aug-16-2006, 12:06pm
I hope... It just says stay tuned now. I have remembered in the past requests for donations etc. I have never been able to donate.
I have this sinking feeling that maybe resources like bluegrassbox are going to get shut down.
With recording industry goons going after whatever, who knows. Now I'm not for stealing music or violating copyrights but bluegrassbox is only artists that allow fans to give away recordings. Thing is, if they other guy has got deep pockets and lot's of lawyers (the rec industry), you probably lose even if you are technically in the right.
Suppose some guy is giving away cheeseburgers on the street corner outside McDonalds. They ain't just like the burgers your used to but you figure they're good enough so you eat those instead of spending $$$. We'll McD would be majorly bent about it.
I would not put it beyond the recording industry to try to shut down services trading legally tradable recordings just because they think the free stuff competes with their for-pay stuff.
Just to point it out one more time, the number of legally tradeable recordings, where everyone with rights to the songs, including the composer and publisher, not just the performer, has agreed to give away the material for free is vanishingly small. Not non-existent, but vanishingly small. A performer cannot consent to give away a recording of someone else's song.
A performer cannot consent to give away a recording of someone else's song.
I supposed if Joe Obscure Bluegrass guy plays a tune written by Bob Obscure Bluegrass guy and Joe gives the recording away, according to the letter of the law, Bruce Springstein and Mandona were supposed to get their $0.0001 cut. 'tain't right.
If you play a song by Bob Obscure Bluegrass, Springsteen and Madonna get a cut of the money and Bob doesn't, which truly does suck. If you record a song by Bob Obscure Bluegrass and pay the mechanical license in order to distribute it, Bob Obscure Bluegrass actually does get the money. It is one of the parts of licensing that actually tends to work.
BluegrassGirl26
Aug-16-2006, 8:23pm
Ok I know I must sound really really stupid but here it goes. What the heck is a Bluegrass Box http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/rock.gif. I've seen it on a lot of forums lately, and I can't figure out what it is.
Dave Gumbart
Aug-16-2006, 10:50pm
Bluegrassbox was a web site that had tons of live bluegrass concerts available for free downloading, from artists that are known as "taper friendly" and consent to having their shows taped and traded. On this, and other forums, there are discussions relating to why even that practice was not entirely acceptable, based on the rights of the composers of the songs. I'm not the go to guy on that information (not the go-to guy for a lot of things, actually...), but suffice it to say, there was a boatload of great music available, and while the folks running the site had considered shutting it down for a year or so now, the recent flare up was essentially the last straw for them. It may or may not return.
And Bluegrassbox was always encouraging folks to pay up to buy the commercial releases of all the artists, and to be sure to attend live performances when they came through town. I did download a lot of stuff from the 'box, and I sure as heck have spent a lot of money supporting those same artists whenever possible.
Hopefully that helps - if not, well, hey, ask me about invasive plant species. That I know about.
Dave
I feel bluegrassbox only helped. I often discovered a band there and went on to buy at least one of their albums. (Wish I could afford more) Also, as I pointed out on another site, the historical shows are hard to replace. As far as compensation, I'm all for that but compensating a composer for a song done live when no money changes hands? That's a bit much as is coffee shop owners having to pay royalties for playing a CD. Those owners are often living on the edge as it is! I say buy direct from the performer when you can and hope most will still allow taping as well.
Oh, and, don't forget to pay the royalties if you sing someone's song in the shower
http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif
Jeff Hoelter
Aug-18-2006, 10:10pm
http://thebluegrassblog.com/index.php/archive/what-happened-to-bluegrassboxxom/
http://thebluegrassblog.com/index.p....sboxxom (http://thebluegrassblog.com/index.php/archive/what-happened-to-bluegrassboxxom/)
arbarnhart
Aug-19-2006, 5:40am
There is another site with a live music archinve that includes a lot of bluegrass:
Internet Archive (http://www.archive.org/index.php)
It's actually etree.com that the archive uses fot that content, but I like the Archive's search better (you can search across other stuff also.
kidtwist
Aug-19-2006, 10:54am
I feel bluegrassbox only helped.
I agree. It helped the consumer and it helped the artist.
Bluegrass box helped me to be smarter consumer. I got to really listen to an artist before deciding if I liked his or her music. Sound samples on itunes and amazon help, but I'm sometimes disappointed with my purchase once I hear the song in full. And there's no chance of my hearing the sound samples on the website of an artist I've never heard of.
Bluegrass box and sites like it are essentially free advertising for the artists. I ended up purchasing the CDs of anyone I discovered there who I liked. Those who are opposed to sites like this are being penny wise and dollar foolish.
The movie studios were very opposed to VCRs when they came out. Fortunately for the movie studios they lost that fight and ended up making fortunes on video tapes. Some music artists are opposed to sites like bluegrass box, unfortunately for them, they may win.
*Please note that these comments are about the controversy over music sharing, rather than the actual reasons for bluegrassbox's demise, which I realize are different.
Mark Normand
Aug-23-2006, 11:14am
Yikes, this is bad news. I wonder what will happen to all those recordings?! #I pulled many a live show that I would never hear otherwise. What a treasure chest that was!
There is a program called HTtrack I use occasionally, have no financial interest, but can be helpful at times, that's all I will say! http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif
Oh, just found this and started reading...
http://www.thebluegrassblog.com/?p=13
Garrett
Aug-23-2006, 7:53pm
How sad. The John Hartford shows I downloaded are priceless to me. I bought many more cds because of listening to shows on bluegrassbox then I ever would have otherwise. I won't be buying any Megan Lynch cds, that's for sure!
picksnbits
Aug-24-2006, 7:13am
bluegrassblog keeps moving things around. The article describing why bluegrassbox shut down is here: What Happened to Bluegrassbox.com? (http://thebluegrassblog.com/index.php/archive/what-happened-to-bluegrassboxxom/#comments)
Notice the comments. There's one from Megan Lynch pointing people to Festivallink.net (http://www.festivalink.net/), which has a limited selection of live recordings which they are selling at a rate of 10.95 for MP3, 15.95 for FLAC, and 17.95 for CD.
If it took a subscription or per-download fee to keep bluegrassbox alive, what would you guys be willing to pay?
Darren
Aug-26-2006, 8:34am
Another site that I have not seen mentioned before here on the Cafe is the Steampowered Preservation Society (http://www.thespps.org/).
They are no profit site that host a ton of Tut Taylor's old live recordings, there are a few with him and John Hartford, Norman Blake, etc. Plus there are some newer BG bands that have shows posted too, like Compton and Long, Steep Canyon Rangers, Uncle Earl, etc.
In no way does this replace bluegrassbox but perhaps the fantastic shows that were on bluegrassbox will not be gone for good.
bluegrassblog keeps moving things around. The article describing why bluegrassbox shut down is here: What Happened to Bluegrassbox.com? (http://thebluegrassblog.com/index.php/archive/what-happened-to-bluegrassboxxom/#comments)
Notice the comments. There's one from Megan Lynch pointing people to Festivallink.net (http://www.festivalink.net/), which has a limited selection of live recordings which they are selling at a rate of 10.95 for MP3, 15.95 for FLAC, and 17.95 for CD.
If it took a subscription or per-download fee to keep bluegrassbox alive, what would you guys be willing to pay?
I think the current asking prices for online music are way t0o high. For a two-set show, about a CD's worth, $2.5 MP3, $4.00 Shn or FLAC is about the most I'd pay and that's if there's one show I here is really good. I tend to download lot's of shows and listen to them only once or twice. They'd have to be $1/show for me to continue that.
Remember when they were selling VHS movies in the very realy 80s for $55-65. No one bought them till they drop the price to $16 and then they sold like hot cakes.
I'd like buy a lot of old recodings for about $10/song. At $.99/song, I don't bother buying anything at all.
OlderThanWillie
Aug-27-2006, 10:13pm
The founders of BG Box stated that a major reason for shutting down was the time & $$ it took to run the site. They have lives to live besides the online requirements of the box.
This leads to the thought that Mr. Tichenor is really doing us all a great service for a minor amount of thanks and compensation. I presume he has a life other than the Cafe such as a job, family, concerts, etc. So thanks Scott for the time you spend providing us all with such a great site for mandolin lovers. #
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