Roger Waters tells Facebook CEO to Zuck off after 'huge' song rights request Grouchy former Pink Floyd bassist/vocalist Roger Waters launched an expletive-laden attack on human-impersonating Facebook CEObot Mark Zuckerberg after receiving a request from Instagram to use one of his songs in a promotional film. Speaking at an event in New York to advocate for the release of Julian Assange, Waters held up …
While your very hard work at the astute analysis is deeply appreciated, one has to wonder why you're limiting your comment to musicians and not including the entire rest of the world.
After all, <pc>we're talking about a THE flaming asshole, here.</pc>
El Bobbo is a mysterious enigma within a deep but incomprehensible poem. He probably allowed Starbucks to use a song because the shade of green in their logo reminded him of the guitar owned by some legendary bluesman whose name no one knows and of whom no songs were ever recorded and where none remain alive who heard him play. [ Married to a Dylan fan, so I know of that about which I speak. ]
It was a whole exclusive CD for Starbucks not just one song.
HMV stores in Canada have removed Bob Dylan CDs from their shelves in protest at the singer's deal to only sell his new album in Starbucks, reports say.
The rock legend signed an exclusive contract with the coffee giant allowing it to sell Live at the Gaslight 1962.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4244934.stm
A friend is a fan and thinks he sold out by doing that.
RW is currently 77. Assuming he has a fair run and lives another 20 years, and never has any more income, that's $1.3M spending money per month for the rest of his life, or a little over $42,000 per day, £30,500 at today's exchange rate. I think most people would be hard-pressed to spend that much money every day for the rest of their life.
Perhaps he should enter politics and campaign for "none of the above"?
So he takes $1.3m in the first month. Come the second month, assuming he starts with $310m and a growth of 5% I notice:
(310 - 1.5)*0.05/12 = 1.285
That is, the money left has just earned 1.3m again. When your money just keeps getting bigger you can tell anyone to fuck off.
I would just be happy with half a million quid, so he must be much happier than Larry. :-)
That is, the money left has just earned 1.3m again. When your money just keeps getting bigger you can tell anyone to fuck off.
I can't remember who said it, but there's a line that you're well off if you can live off the interest, but that the truly rich live off the interest on the interest,
In the US, interest on mortgages on first and second homes are still deductible. At least they still were a few years ago. Since they raised the standard deduction a couple of years ago, our itemized deductions no longer beat it, so I don't pay so much attention to them.
Mortgages, because they're secured with real property, are pretty much the cheapest debt ordinary folks in the US can amass. Combined with the tax advantage, that meant that paying a mortgage off early was not a great financial move if you had any other debt to service.
arguably, there's the negative part of the scale. I can't put his share at exact minus-value, but it's nowhere near the 'nothing' (nothing personal, Zuck, you're not some uber-cunt, you just found the way to tap into the cunty side of humanity)
I don't know. He is a shining example of how not to act. Like the baddies in the old black and white films, that always came unstuck.
Perhaps, one day in the distant future, when shameless is returned to the pedestal from where it fell off, society would again unite in their disgust at such antics, and never more will they big up the wankers that should be spat at in the street.
Ticket prices for shows featuring big-name acts are already deeply underpriced. If you imagined having everyone on Earth write down the highest price they'd be willing to pay, sorting it from highest to lowest, and then selling at the price set by the last person on the list who could fit into the venue, you'd have the optimal price, and it would be much higher than face values are actually set.
This is the result of conscious choices by the promoters; they want to make sure every show sells out quickly, and they like to avoid bad publicity. That is, they have successfully normalised the experience of being unable to obtain tickets, so they know that people will be less disappointed by that than they would by being unable to afford them. In places where "scalping" (properly called market-price resale) is allowed or its prohibition unenforced, you can see the true fair market prices -- or nearly so, given that the supply is artificially restricted at that point -- which are usually anywhere from 3x to 10x face value. If the promoters let the market set the prices through that single-price dutch auction, the price you'd pay would be a little lower than those resale prices (and the resellers wouldn't exist because they couldn't make money). You obviously don't really want to pay that price. On the flip side, if that's a price you're willing to pay, you'd be pretty much assured of getting a ticket and you wouldn't have to fight with bot armies clicking furiously at a web page for the 32 seconds tickets are available before selling out.
Me, I always ask the acts I really like to raise their prices. That way I might get to see them, and the money would go to the players and venue staff instead of the ticket resellers with the most effective bots. To each his own, though.
Back when Waters brought The Wall to Argentina, my wife spent a whole lot of money to get me a perfect seat at the concert (it was my birthday present). It was totally worth it: the River Stadium is so big they would be able to put out the longer, bigger wall, and the quadraponic sound really played well in it (I had already seen Waters there back at the In The Flesh tour).
I even picked up the location, knowing I would be exactly in front of the place where they hollowed the wall to show Pinky's room... It was perfect! Until the very moment when the music started. We have all seen the myriad of phones/cameras held up in front of us for those fools trying to capture a tiny, ill-sounded, shaky memory...
But the guy in front of me was shorter than myself, and HE RAISED A FUCKING IPAD. Right in front of my face. I had the best seat in the concert and I was staring at a goddamn Retina screen...
First reaction: grab the stupid 10-inch iPad and make it ingress into Mr. Short's anatomy at a place where it wasn't meant to do be. Second thought: I tapped his shoulder, and proceeded to point the HD cameras filming the concert, and asked him if he wanted to remember this unique experience as he saw it through the iPad's screen, or if he would enjoy the incomparable display of light, quadraphonic sound and effects through his own senses. Hell, he could buy a BluRay with a quality he wouldn't be able to achieve if he wanted to afterwards.
The guy looked at me, bafled, then put the iPad in his backpack, and thanked me for saving him from ostracizing himself from the experience The Wall was.
If I have to go to the toilet, I always applaud at the end of a movement!
Anyhow, once I went to see Kraftwerk, and their supporting band U2, at GMEX. Probably the Stop Sellafield gig.
When U2 came on, we sat down, and were berated by some Manc mank behind us who exhorted us to get up and dance along. He was most put out by our lack of enthusiasm for the Edge.
A few years ago Pearl Jam cancelled a leg of their North American tour because a fan reached out for them in (anti)social media, complaining about the price of the tickets. The band had chosen to play more dates in smaller venues so they would get to be closer to the crowd, and apparently the company selling the tickets decided it was a great opportunity to take advantage of the supply/demand imbalance. So IIRC they sacked the tour organizers and went with a much more modest concert schedule, but a lower prices and in a much more familiar environment.
He's a good guy, I saw them a lot back in the days when Syd was playing, and then, a few years afterwards I had to deliver a parcel to their roadies at a show - it was great, I got to watch them, sitting up there with the pig and afterwards we had a nice little get together before I headed home again.
Was he struggling to keep his eyes from the circling sky? Maybe you inspired something if the conversation went like this...
Ice is forming on the tips of my wings.. Unheeded warnings, I thought I thought of everything..
No navigator to find my way home.. Unladened, empty and turned to stone
@Tom 7
I cant stand Assange
do you know him personally, or is your opinion based on what you get from the media ? Did it occur to you that the CIA might have spent recent years smearing his reputation exactly so that people like you "dislike " him ? And the same CIA might have whitewashed Navalny's reputation so that people like you "like " him ?
This post has been deleted by its author
I know him from his personal opinions, that's more than enough. Obviously, all the sage opinions he spouts in his spare time never gets published by those horrible (jelous, I say!) media, which tend to amplify those that make his a narcissist (and then some), so I guess I'm being manipulated by this media...
Assange is a bit of a funny one.
On the one hand, Wikileaks is a worthy endeavour (even if the release of documents that might endanger people's lives is questionable).
On the other hand, as a person he does seem to be a bit of a self-promoting sleazeball, and jumping bail and hiding out in the Ecuadorian embassy rather than voluntarily returning to Sweden to face some charges that he would probably have shaken off anyway, seems to be the actions of someone tying to martyr themselves for the purposes of self-publicity. It's worth noting that at the time, he was far more likely to get himself extradited from the UK to the US than from Sweden, so committing an unquestionable crime here (skipping bail) increased, not decreased, his odds of getting deported and tried in the US.
I agree though - he shouldn't be subject to the trumped-up charges and cumulative prison sentences that the corrupt US legal system would impose on him. I also wouldn't trust him to be left alone with my daughter (if I had one).
Assange is just a publisher and what is being done to him is chilling in a free society. I am no fan of the media but when government starts prosecuting news publishers freedom dies. Think about what would have been the reaction if Nixon had arrested the publishers of the Pentagon Papers.
Manning on the other hand, should have been hanged or put in front of a firing squad, and his commanding officer (who put him in that position) should have been revealed and drummed out of the service!
>supporting Assange..
I think its called "keeping people in jail for extended periods of time because they're an Enemy Of The State". You don't have to be in love with someone to regard this as abhorrent.
As for facing American justice, look up "Anming Hu". The FBI is currently conducting a purge of academic institutions of people originally from China. This case was so ludicrous that it failed to get a conviction but the government has endless resources. This fellow is just one of many.
Then there's the Chelsa Manning saga. Having refused to 'name names' she's back in jail. No charges, no conviction, no sentence, just 'contempt' because she was unwilling or unable to name names.
If Assange gets here he's better off dead -- or in Cuba (Guantanamo -- its still going string in case you've forgotten)
I'm also an old Floyd fan from the Syd days and was at the premiere of DSOTM (50 years next January) so well done Roger, you fellow GOM.
Zuck personifies what much of Floyd's Music is about.
I just wish that Zuck would build a spaceship... like fellow billionaires Bezos and Musk and mistakenly 'Set the controls for the heart of the sun' on its first flight with him on board. The world would be a far better place without Facefart and the like.
Eat this Zuck [see icon]
Giving up Whatsapp is tough. I realised that really, it's the very worst form of social media - you get interrupted constantly throughout your day by messages that could be anything from pointless chatter and meme gifs, to a family memeber saying they need help.
I'm now smartphone-less, and it's much better.
I read "Digital Minimalism" (by Cal Newport) after I'd made that decision, but it was really interesting to read someone who had carefully researched all the things I intuitively had reasoned to be true. He talks a lot about the effects on your brain, thought processes, and productivity when you have constant interruptions and distractions.
Giving up WhatsApp is a lot less tough than it used to be. Many people already have Telegram or Signal on their phones as well, because they already know people who have moved from WhatsApp to those. It is much less weird to tell people "I won't use WhatsApp" now.
I just mute any conversations that get too noisy and SWMBO got me to mute all the apps. That largely solves the problem of the interruptions. You're right about the effects on the brain but muting is pretty easy.
People have been leaving WhatsApp here in Germany in droves because of the badly managed planned data grab. I guess that's progress of a sort.
> Giving up Whatsapp is tough.
It really isn't. Just delete your accounts, uninstall the apps and tell people if they want to contact you use the phone (or whatever alternative you prefer). If they can't be bothered to contact you by a method of your chosing then you don't need them in your life anyway.
I don't think that Bob Klose was ever actually in The Pink Floyd but he was in several pre Floyd acts.
He may have been in The Pink Floyd Sound but not The Pink Floyd and certainly never in Pink Floyd.
I don't know why bands drop the definite article.
It upsets me.
Third world problems.
"I much prefer it when bands drop the definite article. It would have caused a few problems for The The however."
I used to play with a band where we couldn't decide on a name, so went out as "The Band With No Name" or "BWNN" for short (I thought the short name looked kind of Welsh).
what FB wanted to use the song for? Maybe part of their next advert, where they'll continue to cry over the fate of small businesses everywhere, who, as a result of the FB's reducing ability to datamine everyone, face financial disaster. Just Another Brick in the Wall (of data-mining)?
This is an IT rag. Sure, but even after years of Brain Damage reading it, you should be Comfortably Numb to the fact that Bootnotes exists? El Reg have got to make Money after all, and they also cover Astronomy Domine.
So just relax, Breathe, don't have too High Hopes, and feel Welcome to the Machine.
The trouble I have with Waters is that he is turning into a self-important prick himself. The man who declared Pink Floyd was over (without consulting his bandmates) and who's immediate response to any challenge was to lawyer up, and now whines that Pink Floyd won't let him promote his solo material on their website. I quite liked some of his solo material, apart from the latest which was tedious guff, but he really needs to learn to think before he speaks. His constant ranting about Israel is annoying too (he was quite happy to tour there and take the money until he decided to go bonkers)
The problem with talking about Israel is that in people's minds they don't separate the actions of the state from the people living there. The Israeli state has done some pretty dodgy things, and has been sanctioned internationally from them. That doesn't mean that the citizens of Israel are responsible for those things. This is further muddied by some who would claim that any criticism of the state is a de facto argument against the existence of that state, and thus antisemitic.
No state, and no government, should be beyond criticism, and trying to divert that criticism into an argument about race and religion is deeply disingenuous.
Don't get me wrong - the situation between Israel and Palestine is a bloody mess and I don't claim to have any solutions. I've no idea what Waters has said on the matter, but I suspect it's a good deal more coherent than some of those who shout the loudest on the matter, such as Israel's new far-right Prime Minister.
Waters may be opposed to the actions of Israel as a state, but that does, of course, have no bearing on whether he should visit the country and play to the people there who want to hear his music. If that were the case, should all left-leaning musicians in the UK (which I suspect is a majority) stop playing whilst we have a right-wing populist cabal in power here?
Waters is quite happy to repeat questionable "truths" he's been fed by Palestinian sources. My comment on taking their money was to highlight that his opposition to Israel seems to be rather late in the day. He like many others doesn't consider that a nation under constant attack might tend to lean towards a more aggressive response to perceived threats. Yes, the Israeli government has been guilty of some very dubious decisions, but it has never set out an official policy of the destruction of its neighbours (unlike Hamas, for example), but to many like Waters there is one "bad guy" and he is quite happy to push this viewpoint. Attacks on jews in the UK have soared, I don't see Waters and his fellow apologists speaking out against this.
I have to agree here. Roger Waters has arrogantly decided that other musicians should boycott Israel and actively lobbies them not to play there. His understanding of the situation there seems to be minimal and he just jumps onto whatever trendy left wing bandwagon happens to be passing by.
Despite loving Pink Floyd for many years, I now boycott his music and refuse to listen or buy anything by him. See how he likes it now!
> never set out an official policy of the destruction of its neighbours
no too busy for that, they just get on with destroying their "neighbours" (i.e. the people who lived on the land they consider theirs as "promised")
Agree on Waters to be gullible though, e.g. the White Helmets being terrorists does reek of conspiracy theory bullshit planted by Assad, Putin and assorrted sycophants.
One of the myriad problems in the region is that Israel does not officially recognise the existence of Palestine as their neighbour at all. It's hard to argue that there is an official policy of destruction of something they claim does not exist. They just bulldoze Palestinian houses and build their own settlements on disputed land, then wall it off.
None of this excuses the actions of Hamas, but to claim the situation is one-sided is simply untrue.
As I said, I don't claim to have any solutions to the situation, but selectively denying that problems exist on both sides of the argument is one of those problems.
well, one take, which I (unahappily) support, is that yes, the citizens of Israel ARE responsible for 'those things' - collectively, including those that did not vote for their government. The government represents the 'nation', and the 'nation' represents their government. Just like the Brits, all Brits, are collectively responsible for the (current) and all previous wankers ruling the UK. And for their decisions, the good, the bad, and the wonderful.
And are the people of Iran responsible for their government? Responsible for their government spreading terrorism around the region? If the Est were to exact revenge on them for their support of terrorism and Iranian civilians dies would you stand by your decision that "the citizens if Iran ARE responsible for those actions"
........ I thought not!
The difference is that one is a totalitarian state, in which protests are crushed and the other is a democracy. Yes, the people of a democracy are resposible for the actions of the government THEY elect. An oppressed population that has resistance crushed, is not.
But the general populace wasn't responsible for anything before universal suffrage. Nor are they responsible for the results of propagangda, as they can't know better for the source of information is tainted by Daily Mail / Facebook etc
Just like the Brits, all Brits, are collectively responsible for the (current) and all previous wankers ruling the UK
I'd dispute that I am in anyway responsible for the current shower of *expletive deleted*s. I've never voted for that party, in any election. I never voted for their policies (including *that* referendum) and actively oppose many of the things they come up with. I bear zero responsibility for any of that.
The reductio ad hitlerum disproof of your argument would be to blame the citizens of 1930's Germany who were rounded up and murdered for their own extermination, since it was done by their legally elected government. Such an argument would be both crass and entirely wrong.
Just like the Brits, all Brits, are collectively responsible for the (current) and all previous wankers ruling the UK
Tosh. Absolute bollocks from someone who is desperate for a grievance. Your kind of shit stirring attitude is the greater problem.
"the citizens of Israel ARE responsible for 'those things' - collectively, including those that did not vote for their government. The government represents the 'nation', and the 'nation' represents their government"
By this logic then the opponents of national socialism in Germany were responsible for the Holocaust, CND are responsible for Britain's nuclear arsenal and remain voters are responsible for brexit.
I think your logic circuits are on the blink.
Anti-semitic? Well I have yet to see or hear any evidence of that. Gullible? Yes.
If you equate criticism of Israel with anti-semitism I would say you are wrong, unfortunately there are a lot of people who cannot differentiate the two, which is why we get attacks on jews living in London, for example, or the constant low evel anti-semitism that the labour party failed to eradicate (and to add balance, that the conservatives have never bothered to even try to).
Waters blithely accepts anything he is told by pro palestinian sources without verifying it. This doesn't make him antisemitic.
they _are_ the wall.
and their users are just bricks in that wall. Unimportant, identical, mook-like bricks with no individuality and complete obedience. Just sitting there being monitized and holding up the big FB wall...
(I wonder if Zuck realizes the irony of that particular song in an ad related to one of his companies...)
I was asked to teach my 9 year old granddaughter some basics functions in spreadsheets. In need of data I suggested she pick a topic and count the votes.
Nothing scientific but...
Total posts 130
Total up 1070
Total down 142
First 45 posts, 579 up, 0 down
21 posts with 0 up
111 posts with 0 down
19 posts with 142 down votes
When I asked what doe this mean, she pondered a moment before saying...
"Mark Zuckerburg is an arsehole and Facebook is bad"
And no, she is not an active Facebook user, our family use Signal groups.
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