Code Monkey and Open Source Music

Here is an awesome song about a guy who writes code. He even has a “boring manager Rob.” (It’s like he knows me?!)

The artist, Jonathan Coulton, writes a song a week that he releases under Creative Commons. His music is funded strictly by donations, which he’s doing to find out if this kind of business model can succeed.

A quote from Jonathan:

“I give away music because I want to make music, and I can’t make music unless I make money, and I won’t make any money unless I get heard, and I won’t get heard unless I give away music…I believe it can work, but we all need to adjust our thinking about the relationship between artists and fans – the RIAA thinks that music listeners are criminals and that music should be locked up and protected. I disagree. I think there are times when free music and file sharing can greatly benefit an artist. Believe me, I spent many years making music and not sharing it with anyone, and that didn’t get me anywhere.”

This one’s for all you coders out there.

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