Monday 6 June 2011

Mr Brooker on Spotify today: as I also grew up having to pay for records, I see Spotify’s fiver a month as a fantastic bargain.  And I worked in the BBC for a while, where I got records for free.

There’s still no such thing as a free lunch. In return for the excellent, ‘free’ services of Gmail, Dropbox, Twitter and all the rest, I’m handing over my data for them to commodify (within certain limits), to add to their businesses’ value. While it’s working to our mutual benefit it’s a good deal, I think: but sometimes it’s good to pay for something rather than handing over more of your life to be looked after by someone else. But then I'm such a control freak I don't even have a supermarket loyalty card.

If you've not been watching Adam Curtis's jaw-dropping polemic 'All Watched Over ...' it's on iPlayer in the UK and no doubt all over youtube as well. Whether you agree with him or not, the use of archive and music is absolutely stunning.

later
After a lunchtime meeting in the Banana Leaf with Matthew S-K from the EIF, I don't think I'll need to eat again for a very long time.

I got an email enquiry today which casually referred to 'ROFS'. That'll be the new album then: Rolling On the Floor Shouting. Or does the S stand for something else?