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.

About Me: My name is Rob Walling and I'm a software developer living and working in Boston. I write about hiring, managing, and motivating software developers, in addition to random outbursts on improving development skills and software startups.

My consulting firm, The Numa Group, performs .NET development for clients throughout the United States. If you are in need of a .NET developer or architect, drop me a line.

If you'd like to subscribe via RSS, my feed is here. If you'd prefer to receive very occasional emails when I publish a major new article, use the box below. Cancel anytime.