The FBI responded by shutting down Megaupload anyway.

The biggest supporters of these two bills are not the congresspeople who introduced them, but the RIAA and the MPAA, along with a few other media lobbying groups. The MPAA and RIAA can’t figure out a new business model in the internet age (or, to be more accurate, they can’t figure out a new business model that keeps their profit margins intact). For these groups, it’s cheaper in the long run to throw money at the government until a major resolution like SOPA is passed, then they can have the municipalities arrest people instead of having to sue and fight piracy on a case by case civil court basis.

But online piracy has fostered the growth of the independent label, the independent musical artist, and helped in the resurgence of the vinyl format. It has actually led to people buying more music, and not only that, music on a more expensive format. Similarly, independent-minded filmmakers and comedians, like Louis CK, can self-release a new movie online and people are willing to buy rather than pirate it. CK recieved 100% of the profits. People are still willing to pay for entertainment.  So what gives?

Well, it has been good for the independent and not the major.  Consumers only want to purchase entertainment if it’s on their own terms, not the terms of the corporate. This means no overhead for labels, no agent fees, no rental fees, no DRM, and a guarantee that a significant amount of the sale (like, I don’t know, ALL OF IT) will go to the entertainer themselves, and not to some corporate overlord who farms them out in order to pay for his daughter’s G5 and personal pilot. Hmm, wealthy people dislike those who are given “free rides,” but they seems to have a lot of “free rides” set up in their favor…

Last month I purchased three records from Polyvinyl records, an independent record label that was started by two friends in a garage. My total order was $29, $34 after shipping. I got those three records, a free poster, download codes for all three albums in mp3, a Polyvinyl sticker, and an orange flavored Airhead. Calculating the cost of an mp3 album on iTunes at $10, I got $37 worth of free stuff. If I had bought those things from say, the local electronics store, I would have had to pay anywhere from $45 (on CD) to $60 (if I was lucky to find indie rock on vinyl in a fucking Best Buy), never mind the bonus downloads or the free poster or even the free sticker and free candy. Plus at the register they would have tried to sell me more shit by asking for my e-mail address.

Gee. Is it any wonder why people with tight incomes prefer to pirate?

It started with the Grammys, primarily Arcade Fire. Then it moved on Bon Iver’s rapid fame, including the Kanye West collaboration. And now the nail in the coffin comes with The People’s Choice Awards, the stupidest, most boring musical awards ever invented to sell commercial space.

The nominees include Bon Iver, Arcade Fire, Radiohead, and Florence & The Machine alongside heavyweights like Foo Fighters, Beastie Boys, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and, uh, OneRepublic. ~(Stereogum)

The links to vote for the PCA are currently down, but if you are into that type of thing…you can go fuck yourself. That’s not indie hip unmainstream of you.

 As it turns out, the video chronicles the making of a special feature included in the limited special edition of the band’s forthcoming concert film/live album Inni. Each special edition will contain a cut-up piece of clothing worn by a member of the band during the November 2008 London concerts captured in Inni. As the Sigur Rós newsletter points out, the outfits were “painstakingly pressed (but not washed),” so you just might get a little bit of Jónsi’s sweat if you’re lucky.     (Via Pitchfork)

So, if I get this straight:

If you buy a limited edition pack of Sigur Ros CDS, one of those CDs MAY OR MAY NOT (15:1 odds) include a GAMEWORN JERSEY by none other than indie superstar Sugar Rios. Some lucky fans will receive a signed Sigur Ros baseball card signed by all the members of the band (odds are 2000:1).

Suddenly my childhood hobbies and my post-college hobbies are merging into some type of weird saliva fantasy.

Which hipster clothing will you win?!?!?!?!

I’m tired of listening to big name indie acts like TV on the Radio. They make lots of money and get corporate sponsorships. But do they care about their audience? Kip Malone is way too busy letting women throw themselves on him to give a shit about ‘regular’ fans.

From now on I’m only going to listen to musicians who don’t have a Myspace, who don’t have a hit song, and who lose a shit ton of money trying to distribute their music. Why? Because music is a stupid, expensive art and only the truly stupid are willing to invest thousands of dollars becoming the next indie failure. And I respect their stupidity.

 If you choose to purchase our music or use one of the ‘legal’ streaming services, here’s an overview of where the pennies go.

SPOTIFY:  With Spotify, we’ll get 0.003 EUR/play.

If you listen to the album all the way through, we’ll get 0.029 EUR.

If you listen to the album 10 times on Spotify, we’ll get 0.29 EUR

If you listen to it a hundred times, we’ll get 2.94 EUR

If you listen to the album 1,000 times (once a day for 3 years!) we’ll get 29.47 EUR!

Read more about indie bands getting shafted.

So yeah, I’m going as far away from mainstream indie music as possible. Because indie bands are getting hosed…But that doesn’t mean I’ll stop using iTunes, Spotify etc. Even if Spotify has NO Silver Jews. Their interface is just so seamless and easy to use.

But it got me thinking. Jdub Records is out of business. The hip Jews of the world need a beacon of hope to look towards. Why shouldn’t Hipsterjew start a Hipsterjew label?

Ignore the fact that neither The Duckman or I have ever done something like this. And ignore the fact that we have less money than a crack whore on welfare. Would you, dear reader, care? Would I care?

Probably not. Because Jdub Records started when 2 20-somethings decided to start a record label. We don’t want to just repeat what they did. That’s not original. And we are more than just a music blog. I for one care much more about comedy and pop culture than trying to be the tastemakers of the Jewish hipster movement.

So instead we will continue to give you updates on all the Hipster Jews who happen to play music out there in the world. We will cover what they do, support them when we can. But don’t expect us to get any wild ideas.

We’ve got real jobs and real responsibilities, durrrrr.

Wanna up your hipster cred? Need that new cool band to listen to? It aint gonna be easy. Because the indie music world is a game of mirrors, being popular but not mainstream.

It usually starts the same way. Some band posts a song to a music sharing site like Bandcamp or SoundClick. One person sends it to two people, who each send it to four, and so on, until it gets picked up by a music blog like Gorilla vs. Bear or Brooklyn Vegan and then aggregated on the Hype Machine. A week later, the band has caught the attention of record labels, tastemakers, and promoters.

But everyone wants to know, who is this act? They won’t do interviews, so all anyone has to go on is two MP3s and a low-resolution profile picture where they’re too far away from the camera to make out anyone’s face. And still, Pitchfork just gave their song the Best New Music designation. They’re booked for a South by Southwest showcase. Fifteen days have passed, and the band is now the blogosphere’s next big thing—even though the blogosphere couldn’t recognize the band on the street.

This is how underground bands come of age in 2011. “Mystery” is quickly becoming the default PR strategy for breaking indie acts. (Atlantic)

I tried the ‘mystery card’ for about 3 months at the bars. Turns out I’m not cool enough to pull off mystery but still keep women interested. I just look like a drunk creeper. Story of my life.

No band wants to be ‘over-hyped’. It’s why I wont listen to Bon Iver. They’ve already been hyped so much that I think everyone who listens to them are shallow, mainstream music sheep. Yup.

Keep on listening to that obscure music that nobody has ever heard of. Except you, of course.

Most obscure band I know.

I made a child-appropriate dance mix. If you are a mom or dad, teach children, or having nieces/nephews with really unhip parents, this mix is for you. Children love to dance, and adults should be allowed to listen to their own hip music without feeling guilty. Therefore I present to you, my Child Hipster Dance Mixtape.

But first, a few important things you should know:

Children love Michael Jackson, and by obvious association, Chromeo

Children love to dance. They don’t want any depressing indie tunes. They are happy little people. Don’t give them anything from any Love Mixtape you’ve ever made.

Children also love really really REALLY hideous songs like the chicken dance. It is your job to correct this mistake, atleast until they become teenagers and hate all your musical tastes and everything you believe in.

There are only so many appropriate dance-y songs out every few years. Some of the songs on this list are old and ones that you are so fucking bored of you’d rather listen to Madonna on repeat. Children don’t know that, so grimace and bare it.

It those PS122-something kids sang the song for youtube and/or the Grammy’s, then it is child-appropriate.

1) Chromeo – Night By Night (MJ remake)
2) Hood Internet – Billie ‘Wildcat’ Jean
3) Pretty Lights – I Can See it in Your Face (Kids love cat noises and beats)
4) Chromeo – Fancy Footwork
5) MGMT – Kids
6) Neon Indian – Deadbeat Summer (A good teacher wont discriminate against chill-wave in front of children)
7) Justice – D.A.N.C.E
8) Phoenix – 1901
9) Duck Sauce – Barbara Streisand (I know, it is Glee certified and you shouldn’t be seen listening to this song. But once again, the children deserve to hear a great song, no matter how over-played and popular it is)
10) Miike Snow – Animal
11) Pretty Lights – Total Fascination
12) Chromeo – Bonified Lovin (This song is less raunchy than most pop songs on the radio)
13) MGMT – Electric Feel
14) Phoenix – Listomania
15) Passion Pit – Sleepyhead
16) Justice – Phantom
17) Chromeo – Tenderoni

If you have any other songs to add, please feel free to comment below!

And because this music video is AMAZING:

A partial list of recent albums they have streamed before the album’s release:

• Panda Bear’s Tomboy
• Heldago Negro’s Canta Lechuza
• Emmylou Harris’ Hard Bargain
• Vivian Girls’ Share the Joy

Granted. All of these musicians are of the ‘lighter’ fare, more folk/country/alt/experimental than rock. Which does allow for a much larger listening audience. (I tried really hard to hate Steve Earl, and even I found myself tapping my foot to his gritty voice.)

That being said, yesterday NPR blew the fucking roof off of their indie cred. They are major league players, making Brian Williams’ music blog look like Pitchfork. Within the past month they have offered the above albums for streaming. Yesterday they added 2 (TWO) more albums to that growing list. Click the links below to give em a listen.

• The Antlers’ Burst Apart
• Fleet Foxes’ Helplessness Blues

And if for some reason this didn’t convince you that NPR loves Hipsters (and vice versa) just look who ‘happens’ to be sponsoring NPR:

I save money and go to cheap shows of bands that nobody has ever heard of. Like The Fifth Business who are playing up in Burlington tomorrow night.